


We're Not Broken Just Bent

by TotallyTinkerbell



Category: SKAM (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Break Up, Evak - Freeform, Everything Hurts, Future Fic, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Post-Break Up, Reunions, Unresolved Emotional Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-01-29 14:21:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12632850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TotallyTinkerbell/pseuds/TotallyTinkerbell
Summary: They had made a decision that didn’t fall easy on either of them. A decision that still kept Isak awake at night in his bed that was too big and in his kitchen that was too empty in the mornings. On the couch in front of his tv-cabinet which was void of Even’s film collection, and in his hallway which no longer had a dozen pairs of shoes in it.Based on this prompt by Berey: https://twitter.com/evaesheim/status/884862659887341568Title from "Just Give Me A Reason" by p!nk.I created a little playlist for this fic, composed by songs I listened to while writing: https://play.spotify.com/user/1125329940/playlist/2hjoRkAzAHDoWWPwgI6MXW





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note: This was supposed to be a OS but turned into a multichapter fic. Sorry not sorry :p

There was a time, when Even was 22 and he basically begged Isak for them to get a dog. Their apartment allowed it, and Isak had realized that Even was probably so excited about it because of that reason. So he gave in. Because why wouldn’t he want to have a dog with Even? Back then he did everything for Even. He took every opportunity to be close to him, spend time together. Walking their dog together, soaking up the sun in the Norwegian summer. It was all perfect. Emphasis on  _ was _ , 4 years ago. 

Then things slowly changed, neither of them able to recognize how bad things were going until it was basically too late and they became ships passing in the night. Even’s exhausting filming schedule, Isak’s emersion in his studies. They prioritised anything but themselves. They made date-nights happen just to escape from their horribly draining lives, not to be around each other. They learned to coexist, to fit each other in a space designated for the other person but that space had moved from the heart to the head. It had become a practical matter, their entire relationship. There was no definite reason as to why they fell out of love. They just did. Now it was spring 2023 and Even was Isak’s ex-boyfriend after they had broken up last November.

They had made a decision that didn’t fall easy on either of them. A decision that still kept Isak awake at night in his bed that was too big and in his kitchen that was too empty in the mornings. On the couch in front of his tv-cabinet which was void of Even’s film collection, and in his hallway which no longer had a dozen pairs of shoes in it. 

Even had gathered most of his stuff that night and they had both cried. Isak had been leaning against the doorway, watching Even fold up his clothes and pack them in a suitcase. He had been in the living room while Even went through the kitchen, taking the cheese-slicer that his mom gifted them for Christmas last year. After a while of going through the house and gathering his stuff, Even walked up to Isak on the couch and sat down on it. The look on his face was burned onto Isak’s brain. They were both in pain. That final kiss, the way Even untangled their fingers and walked out of the living room, not returning… Isak still remembered it like it was yesterday. 

In the days that followed, Isak tried to adjust to the emptiness in the house, but he mostly failed. Isak was left with a sweater of Even he had stolen, some sweatpants that were still in the washer, and all of their photographs. All of them. Acting as a constant reminder of the life they had together. Could have had. It was too painful, causing Isak to turn most of them upside down. 

One week after the break-up, when Jonas called him to ask if he wanted to go out with them, Isak broke down. When Jonas told him he needed to be around people, Isak replied saying he only needed to be around one person. He only needed Even. Nobody else. Nobody else could make it hurt less. Isak needed Even, and he needed them to be okay again. He was convinced they could fix this. They could repair whatever had happened. Isak couldn’t let go. He couldn’t give up on all of their history. Their days at Nissen, the chaos of living together in their first apartment. All the amazing dates, and the lazy afternoons with Baz. Baz… They shared Baz, another being. 

That night, Isak had called Even, sobbing on the phone as the call went to voicemail all seven times. Finally, he gave up and he walked over to the fridge, where he drank every single beer, trying to stop the aching. Because his heart betrayed him. Isak’s heart pretended he was fine the day of the break-up, but only now seemed it have sinked in that Even was truly gone. Yes, Isak drank himself shitfaced. He may have called Even’s mom and told him how he regretted letting Even go. Next day he woke up with the biggest headache and Baz next to him on the couch, which he miraculously didn’t fall down from.

Isak then remembered what Even’s mom had told him, about how he impulsively left to go film a project in Ireland. She alluded to the fact that Even needed to be away from Oslo for a bit, because it was hard being in the city where he fell in love. Where he fell in love with Isak. Isak related to that feeling. He was in the middle of the worst place. The best place. The place where he and Isak were supposed to build a life together. They were supposed to start working the jobs they actually liked, not be someone’s cinematography/medical research assistent. They were supposed to consider if they wanted kids. If Baz should have someone to play with, if they should move. Yet Isak didn’t move.

Part of him was glad Even was at least strong enough to move on, and try to get over their break-up. Meanwhile Isak fell deeper and deeper every day. He started to not have any appetite and he started to ignore calls. He stopped playing soccer, something he had picked up again after college to try and remain fit. He stopped hanging out with the boys after Eva and Jonas announced their engagement and Mahdi said he and Elise were going to move to Trondheim. 

There wasn’t much point in it for Isak anymore. Everyone was leaving him. And all he had left were those Sunday afternoons in early December on the couch with Baz, exhausted from his shift at the hospital. He would fall down on the couch and within a minute his hand would be nudged and Isak would softly cuddle Baz until he didn’t feel so empty anymore. 

The holidays were possibly the worst of it. The plans he and Even had made together were now but a vague memory, and Isak found himself at the dinner table with Lea and her boyfriend, and his mom and dad, acting like everyone was part of the happy family. Isak spent New Year’s at a party thrown by the people at the hospital, disconnected from any of his former friends to get away from their sympathetic faces. Cecilia, one of his collegues, was the only person who pulled the “must be hard, first holidays without him.” card, and Isak just shrugged at her comment, finishing the rest of his champagne and walking away.

Mid-January Jonas managed to drag him out to a party (a  _ pre-bachelor  _ party). Apparently Jonas and the boys had gotten worried enough that they conjured up a plan to get Isak out there again. Isak couldn’t blame them though. He was a serious buzzkill on their joy, even though he didn’t want to be. But he knew they were concerned. So he went along with their plan. He even found himself not as reluctant as the evening progressed. That night he found himself on the verge of taking some blonde guy home with him. However as they got to the front door, Isak changed his mind and he left his date standing on the doorstep as he drowned the experience away with a few beers.

It was the next morning that Isak came downstairs, noticing Baz hadn’t eaten his food. Nothing the vet could diagnose, so Isak snuggled up with him and told the dog that everything would be fine. But would it? Isak was supposed to be the responsible one. He was supposed to keep Baz happy. Even had said that Isak was the one who knew what was good for him, while Even just spoiled him rotten. That’s why Isak had kept him. That and the fact that Even would move in with a friend who wasn’t that fond of dogs ( _ Isak didn’t like the friend) _ .

Isak realized then that the break-up may not have affected just him. Baz was used to Even being away for some time on filming projects. But could it be that Baz only now realized that Even was going to be gone forever? “You miss him don’t you.” Isak sighed. So do I, echoed through his head. 


	2. Chapter 2

Isak took Baz to the vet first, but he told him nothing physically was wrong with the dog, so Isak took him back home. He treated him on his favorite snacks, which helped for a little bit but soon Baz was back to being down and sad. It functioned as a kick in the but for Isak, who looked in the mirror himself and noticed he wasn’t in much of a better state.

Despite the wintertime, Isak decided to get a haircut that day. Then, he got himself into his workout shorts and he took Baz out to the park for a run. After a few weeks, nearing the end of January. Isak painted the kitchen, and he got in touch with Sana to see if that position at the place she worked was still up. 

Isak gave up his job with no ambition to work as Sana’s colleague. He got in shape again, and got in touch with Jonas to meet up for drinks to talk things over. He offered his help with the wedding vows, and on the day of Even’s birthday, Isak only allowed himself to go through his old instagram pictures for half an hour, before he got ready for a dinner at Eskild’s with the old roommates.

Things improved, slowly but steady, for Isak at least. But when Vilde came over to take measurements for his suit at the wedding, she pointed out Baz was still down, and Isak admitted to her that he didn’t know what to do. It was Vilde’s nonchalant comment that hit Isak: “Maybe you should call up Even, he got back from his trip last week.”

Isak had known about the trip from Yousef, who accidentally brought it up at the dinner party, and Isak had assured him that it was fine, and that he was over it. But then why did the prospect of getting in touch with Even make his heart ache?

To remedy the pain, Isak let the dog sleep in his bed that night. Then he grabbed his phone and Isak decided to bite the bullet. He texted Even. Drafted up the words. And then erased them again. And then wrote them all over. He spent over an hour trying to figure out what to say. By the end, he was too exhausted and with a tear rolling down his face he put his phone face down on the nightstand, and he covered himself in the sheets, Baz right next to him. “I’m sorry.”

He was just sad. Sad that Baz had been so affected by their break-up, and that Even had to come over to fix things. Isak was sad because Baz wasn’t the only one who needed Even in his life. Sad that despite of it, he couldn’t bring himself to hit send.

The next morning, Isak woke up and he went to get breakfast, before getting ready for his weekly run. Once he was ready, he looked around the house and found Baz still on the bed. Isak walked around it, picking up his phone and looking at Baz. “Come on buddy, let’s go for a run.” he said excitingly, but Baz didn’t really reply much. That’s when Isak noticed his phone buzzing, and with his eyes still on the dog he opened his text.

When he finally did look at it, he froze. 

‘Is it okay if I come to see Baz ?’

Even.

Isak’s heart sped up right away, and he was unable to form a reply for several minutes, until he looked over to where Baz was and took a deep breath. He replied, saying Baz missed him, and refrained from adding ‘so do I’ before pressing send. Even suggested to come by on Thursday, and Isak agreed despite the fact that he would have to ask someone to cover him at work. He would ask Sana. Sana would understand.

So Even showed up that Thursday, ringing the doorbell. When Isak heard the sound, he got up from the couch and he straightened his shirt a little, before walking over to the door. The cup of coffee in his hands that he had poured himself against the nerves was in his hands so he wouldn’t fidget. When he opened the door, Even smiled his signature smile. First thing Isak had noticed was that Even had his hair grown out longer, the way he had it when they first fell in love at Nissen, and he wore his work clothes.

“Come in.” Isak said, smiling himself, and Even moved past Isak into the hallway, kicking out his shoes but placing them next to the wall neatly, and Isak wished he didn’t. He wished that Even hadn’t had to rang the doorbell and that he didn’t feel like a stranger in the place he used to live, just last year. Isak wished he didn’t comment on the new kitchen paint color, which had been Isak’s failed attempt at making the room feel less sad. 

Isak was sad for a moment, realizing how Even didn’t seemlessly fit into his life anymore. But then he saw Baz, and he couldn’t help but smile once again. The way Baz’ tail wiggled once he saw Even reminded Isak of when they got him as a little puppy, and Isak felt warm inside. It could’ve also been due to the sun that was out, rare for late february in Oslo. Maybe it was a sign. Maybe Isak just really really really needed this to go well. 

They sat down in the kitchen, and it all felt so familiar with Even hugging Baz and the two of them laughing, the joy of their dog being entirely contagious. “Want some coffee?” Isak then asked once he could no longer laugh because his cheeks hurt, and Even didn’t miss a beat in looking up at Isak. His blue eyes met Isak’s green ones, and Isak had to blink a few times. Even just nodded, and then followed Isak for a couple of seconds as he moved through the kitchen.

Isak put Even’s coffee on the table, and Even softly said “Thanks” before he returned his gaze to Baz. “Is he okay?” Even asked after a few minutes of goofing around with the dog, and Isak had to remove the mug he was drinking from away from his lips.

“He’s been…. Well you know, he’s used to having the two of us around. And there was just me.” Isak betrayed himself by using past tense there. Because he knew it enforced the hope that this would become a regular thing again, but he had no idea how Even felt and so he shouldn’t be making such wishes. “So yeah, he’s been a little bit down. We’ve been going on runs to the park and stuff though.”

“Okay.” Even replied, nodding. He then turned to Baz and sighed. “Sorry buddy, for not being here. I missed you a lot, you know.” He paused there, which didn’t go unnoticed by Isak, but then he continued praising Baz for being such a good boy.

Eventually Even moved to the living room, and Isak stayed right where he stood by the kitchen counter, his hand gripped firmly around the handle of the cutlery drawer, and he forced himself to breathe. Minutes passed, and Isak remained in the kitchen, but a fond smile made his way onto his face regardless. He allowed himself to drift off a little bit, undeniably staring at this point but he didn’t care.

“Isak? Is it okay that I’m here?” 

Even’s word pulled him out of his daydream, and Isak blinked a few times to see Even was looking worried. Had Isak’s staring concerned him? Isak looked down right away, and then he took another sip of his coffee, drawing out his reply. Then he sighed. “He misses you. So yeah. It’s good for him that you’re here.”

“But is it good for you?” Even asked. And that question took Isak by surprise. He didn’t think Even would  go there. They had been very focused on Baz for a reason. Isak assumed Even didn’t want to talk about them.

“I’m fine.” Isak replied. He wasn’t really sure what it meant, what it could mean. How Even could interpret it. But he knew it was a lie though. He knew he wasn’t fine when Even was around. He knew his heart ached every time his name got mentioned by one of their friends, no matter how often he had told himself he was over it. And told his friends the same thing. He knew the moment Even stepped through the door again that he wasn’t fine. He knew he missed Even dearly.

A few moments of silence passed, Even slowly nodded. “Does that mean… I mean… Do you think I could come over more often? I mean, I do miss him a lot.” Even asked. Isak’s heart sped up a little bit, but he forced himself not to get his hopes up. “Eh… sure. I mean, if you want to.” he said, trying to come across casually. But his sweaty hands indicated that it was anything like that.

Even nodded, smiled his signature smile again, and then took a few more sips of his beer before he got up and called for Baz again. Even ended up staying another hour or so, playing around and cuddling with their dog. Then he left, and Isak waited for his heart to break again like all those months ago, but it didn’t.

Instead he sat down in his bed and scrolled through the two pictures he sneaked in this afternoon. Then he put his phone down, and had one of the best nights of sleep in months. No nightmares, no abrupt awakenings. Just a dream. A silent hope, perhaps. 


	3. Chapter 3

Even texted him the next morning right away, arranging for him to come by shortly after he got back from his next project in 10 days. And Isak struggled staying optimistic about not seeing Even again for 2 weeks, but when Even added that the afternoon they spent together meant a lot to him, Isak couldn’t help but smile. 

He held on to that for the next couple of days, and when he saw Even again it was like no time had passed. “Hi.” he said, allowing Even to walk in. This time Baz came running to the front door and jumped up at Even, causing both Isak and Even to laugh. “Easy buddy, I’m here. I’m here. Let’s go back.” Even spoke the to the dog. They sat down outside in their... or…  Isak’s backyard, and Even ran around wih Baz while Isak watched them from the kitchen. This time when he offered Even coffee, he didn’t have to ask, and Even accepted the gesture gracefully.  

Even mostly kept his eyes on Baz outside, looking through the window, and taking a few sips from his coffee every now and then. “It’s so amazing to see him so happy like that.” Even laughed. “Hmm…” Isak said, his gaze nowhere near Baz as he watched Even smiling.

Even went home and sat in his car in front of his building smiling like a kid at Christmas. They were good. They were even more than good. Because something about the day had felt so familiar, so common. Even knew that their relationship had always been strong. That they always had that underlying layer of trust and understanding. Of friendship. But it wasn’t until all the other stuff was taken away, that he saw it was truly there. Their connection. The thing that made Even want Isak in his life when he saw him the first day of school at Nissen. 

Back then it was an entirely platonic wish. Just befriending the snapback 2 nd year boy, and hang out. And that is what they end up doing, midway through the next decade. But still. As long as Isak was in Even’s life, things would be fine. They would be better. Even could stop dwelling at all the things he didn’t say when they broke up, all the regrets he had about the decisions they made that messed things up between them. 

Moving in together while in high-school. Even dropping out of college. That stupid stupid fight about Isak paying for groceries because he knew Even didn’t have the money because he quit his job to go back to school. All of those bad things were now slowly subsiding in Even’s head. Finding their place to be tucked away in history. His history with Isak. The good and the bad.

And once Even was able to put those things at peace, he was able to acknowledge the feeling in his chest. The instant smile when he thought about Baz and the afternoon at Isak’s. The way he had caught Isak looking. The way he just wanted to lean in and put his hand on Isak’s. The first time in months that he had felt some sort of life force through his veins aside from by his camera and whatever project he had thrown himself in.

Even pulled out his phone walking away from the open balcony window of his flat and texted Isak. Or ‘Mannen I Mit Liv’ because who was Even kidding. There was nobody who would compare to Isak. And for the first time he didn’t feel that ping of sadness seeing the name on the display. Because if the afternoons with Isak had shown anything, it’s that Isak was indeed the one for Even.

‘Do you have any plans on Saturday? Feel like taking Baz to the park?’

Even stared at the message for a while, realizing he wished he could drop Baz from the conversation and ask the true question he wanted to ask. But he knew he couldn’t. Knew it wasn’t good to go down that route, to do things like this. Right now he was as desperate as he could get to move away from the loneliness and the overwhelming dread that had hit him after the break-up. But he couldn’t fuck things up in an attempt to make things better again. No, if there was a chance, it was a delicate one and Even wasn’t going to ruin it by rushing anything.

‘Sure, we can do that.’

Even smiled widely at his phone as the reply came in. He was 100% aware of the fact that Isak and Even were treating Baz as the child in the middle of their divorce but that was because he was. Because children were usually made out of love. And Isak and Even both loved that weird little monster they had decided – Isak had let Even decide – to call Baz.

**

They met up at the park at 3, and Isak wore a grey shirt and a jacket over his shoulder as he walked up to Even, Baz walking next to him.

“Hi.” Even smiled, and Isak looked up realizing Even was talking to him and not the dog. “Hi.” he replied, smiling softly. 

Even suggested walking around a little bit, and he noticed how Isak lost his subltly more and more, to the point where they looked at eachother for a little too long occasionally. Even decided they might as well come up with a reason for it, so he tilted his head and cleared his throat. Casual conversation. 

“Sana told me you guys are doing some amazing work in the bio department…”

Isak seemed a bit startled, like he was lost in thought, and then nodded a little bit. “Eh, yeah. Yeah, things are going good.” Isak replied. Another few minutes of silence followed. “So… what about filming? Any new projects coming up?”

Even shook his head. “Nope. Wanna reconnect with my first love.” Even said. To this, he could see Isak shakingly breathe in. Then, he recovered and he cleared his throat. “Photography?” Isak asked. Even smiled, knowing Isak was avoiding looking up at him, and he just hummed in reply.

They finally settled on a bench, Isak pulling Baz’ favorite toy from his pocket and they watched him play around with it on the grass field in front of it. They just sat there, watching him drag the toy around and when Isak chuckled, Even looked aside, a soft smile on his own lips. Then Isak mumbled something when Baz almost tripped, and Even poked Isak. “Hey, don’t insult him. You’re equally clumsy.” 

Isak looked up at Isak and then down at Even’s hands for a bit, before a blush turned on his cheeks. “I’m not clumsy anymore Even. I’m almost 25.” Isak said. Even laughed a little, shaking his head at the way Isak was avoiding looking at him again. “Being clumsy is a treat that doesn’t go away when you start paying taxes Isak.”

Isak then finally looked up and gave one of his signature ‘unamuzed’ looks, before he broke into a smile again and he leaned backwards against a bench. “Yeah well… All I’m saying is that I’m a bit more agile than 17 year old me.”

Even was looking at Baz but then looked over his shoulder, to where Isak was leaning back. Then he nodded a little bit. “Well… 17 year old Isak was the boy I fell in love with. I didn’t care about any of that.” Even said.

For a moment he looked down and he considered moving his hand over to Isak’s, but then the moment vanished when Baz ran up to them, demanding them to throw the toy again. So Isak threw the toy, and he leaned his elbow on his knees, avoiding the way his heart was beating a million times an hour. When he did eventually look at Even, the world froze for a moment, and everything fell into place again.

**

“Hi.” Isak said the next weekend, as Even stood in front of his door again and he moved aside to take off his shoes, not bothering with putting them in a row. They then walked to the kitchen, and Even sat down with Baz for a good 5 minutes before he looked up at the clock.

“Have you eaten?”

Isak blinked a few times, and shook his head softly. “No.”

“Let me cook for you?” Even asked. Isak looked up at Even. Even smiled, and looked back down at Baz. “What do you say buddy? Want some of my amazing cuisine?”

Isak rolled his eyes. “Even you know he can’t have all of the stuff we eat.”

“Then you have to eat all of it.” Even replied, winking.

Isak ended up doing just that, almost licking his plate clean because he had gone months without Even’s cooking. He knew he had a five course dinner to go to at Jonas and Eva’s wedding, but if he could have 5 courses of this meal he would be perfectly happy.

“You liked it?” Even asked. Isak nodded, taking the plates and washing them. Even cleaned off the rest of the kitchen, reaching up above Isak from behind him to put away the pepper and salt. And it wasn’t at all a new touch. In fact it was familiar, the way Even’s hand brushed down from Isak’s shoulder, an affectionate gesture. Yet Isak froze in his spot. 

Even noticed it too, his face breaking up a smile and then he laughed a little. “Sorry, old habits die hard.” He said. 

Isak noticed how Even had moved in a little closer as he did. Then Even slid over his hand on the counter towards Isak, and the laughing died away. Instead it was just the two of them, the heartbeats each of them was sure the other could hear, and the unsaid things between them. But nothing had to be said. It was just the two of them now. No words, just actions, as Even slowly moved in closer and Isak leaned in, trying to meet him halfway. That was when Baz barked, the four legged ball of fluff having been cheated out of his dinner. 

“Sorry, sorry, you can have your food.” Isak said, immediately kneeling down and taking out Baz’ food. Even shuffled around from his spot at the counter and finished clearing off the table. Then Isak got a work related call, and Even made himself comfortable on the couch, where Baz joined him.

“You’re named after the creator of epic love stories my friend. You ought to recognize a romantic moment and not ruin it. I thought we were a team.” Even said to the dog that was just enjoying the affection, all snuggled up in Even’s side. Suddenly, he couldn’t care less about his dinner.

Even huffed. “Great wingman you are.”

When Even got home that evening, his roommate asked him if he hooked up with anyone new, and Even just laughed his head shaking. But he could tell why he would be asked. His cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling so often, and the comment of how ‘he seemed to have returned to the land of the living recently” made Even’s eyes roll a bit.

But yes, if he was honest with himself then he hadn’t been living much without Isak. And now, now that he had him back in his life, he felt like everything fit again. His inspiration for his own projects had tenfolded recently. Even had started to put a little bit more effort in the way he dressed and how he did his hair, unlike the bare minimum he had been pulling recently.

The dinner at Isak’s was one of the first times Even had even properly cooked a big meal in a while, having pulled off simple soups, ready-made-dinners and fastfood for most of the winter. So he got why people were pointing it out to him. Not just his roommate. Also his mom. And his dad. And even Sana was looking at him with a little smirk when they met up for coffee. Even got to tell his part of the story, while Sana had already heard Isak’s part of it.

“So you almost kissed, then?” Sana asked.

Even sighed a little, and nodded. Almost. And they hadn’t addressed it since. But almost. And Even could work with that. He had done it many years ago, and he could do it again. He knew it had to be right, or everything would be ruined. But he was going to try.


	4. Chapter 4

Isak and Even had started to text more and more as February moved over into March, and Isak told Even about the final costume fitting (Isak may have been working out a little more, gaining muscle, needing the suit to be adjusted once more). He told him about how Vilde had hosted Eva’s bachelorette party, and Even had replied saying he saw a video on Sana’s instagram which Isak hadn’t even seen yet.

They talked about work, about their friends, and about Baz.

‘He misses you tonight. The Breakfast Club is on.’ Isak texted.

Even looked at his phone, and put it face down on the couch for a few seconds, remembering those nights where he tried to cheer himself up by watching some of his all-time favorite movies. Where his friends would offer to binge-watch a season together, but Even didn’t really care. At most he cared when he was behind the camera himself. That way he could control the narrative a little bit. Unlike how he didn’t have any control in anyone else’s work, or his own life for that matter.

He had been slowly but steadily going off the rails, into a darkness that he didn’t want to visit, yet was approaching at unreasonable speed. Even had felt like crap, like he hadn’t felt for a really long time. Without Isak. 

Now, he had the prospect of spending the entire evening at Isak’s house. With Isak. And that made Even smile brightly.

‘Are you suggesting a movie night?’ He asked. He dared himself not to make any mention of Baz.

Isak replied with a winking emoji. Ten seconds later, Even was typing. ‘On my way.’

He hesitated only briefly, noticing it was pouring down outside. But regardless of that he stood on Isak’s doorstep 12 minutes later, completely soaked but still smiling. 

Isak swallowed and asked him if he walked all the way over. “I ran. But yes.” Even replied.

Isak then told him to take off his clothes, and he rolled his eyes at the way that Even raised his eyebrows, but Isak couldn’t avoid the fact that he was smiling as soon as he turned around. “I will get you some stuff to wear.” He said, and he left the hallway to pick up a pair of sweatpants that he had claimed but were originally Even’s. Even was already down to just his shirts and jeans by the time Isak returned, handing the pile of warm clothes over to Even next.

“Thanks.” Even said, putting them in between his hands, covering Isak’s hand in the process. 

“Eh, I’ll be in the living room, resetting the movie.” A startled Isak replied, then leaving Even in the hallway. Isak heard the door to the hallway bathroom close and open a few moments later, and then Even appeared in the living room again.

“I swear I didn’t plan this. I can’t control the weather, I can’t predict a downpour in March.” he said as he joined Isak on the couch. Isak smiled and shook his head, handing Even a blanket, arguably his.

“I know. We know planning things doesn’t work out anyways.” 

The last part came out a bit sadder than Isak would have wanted to, and it wiped the smile off of Even’s face. Isak then  noticed the change in the mood because of what he said. 

“Sorry.”

“No it’s okay. You’re right. We’re best this way. Things never really went to plan in the beginning either.” Even said. The fond memories of his last year at Nissen caused his smile to return on his face.

Isak smiled too, before trying to focus on the opening scene of the movie, but to no prevail. 

In the corner of his eye, Even noticed Isak pulling up his long legs and turning towards him regardless of the Breakfast Club going into its 5th minute. 

At that point, Even gave up to.

Yet for a while they didn’t do anything. They just sat there, looking at each other. Then Isak reached for a strang of Even’s hair that was dropping a water droplet and Even closed his eyes when Isak’s fingers grazed his skin.

When they did it again, undeliberately this time, Even breathed in and he opened the eyes he had closed when Isak’s hand neared. And when Even’s blue eyes looked right at Isak’s green ones, he knew. They both knew. 

“I wish we didn’t break up.” Isak said, so softly he wasn’t sure if Even would hear it over the rain outside and the music of the movie. 

Even softly moved to take Isak’s hand, and rubbed his thumb over it.

“Back then it seemed like the best thing to do.” Even replied. They both knew that it had been a mistake. Isak sighed deeply. Thinking about all the things in the past few months, breaking up with Even was on the top of the list of bad decisions he had made. Breaking up with Even, the way all of it affected Baz.

“Baz would disagree.” Isak said, leaning over to gently rub the dog’s back. Even smiled fondly. Then Isak continued talking. “I tried…. You know, I tried moving on and stuff. Tried the whole deal. Drinking it away, trying to do exercise. But you’ve never really left my heart. I almost hooked up with someone but I couldn’t and…”

Even froze. Blinked a few times, and leaned away. “You didn’t?” Even asked.

Something about the way Even said it alerted Isak, and he shook his head, frowning. “No, I didn’t. Wh.. Why?” Isak asked. To this, Even closed his eyes and he sighed deeply, gathering up strength for something.

“I was here, that night. I was just across the street when I saw you guys. Walking up to your place. I saw him lean in to kiss you, but I didn’t want to see it. So I turned around and I just walked away and…”

Isak looked up at Even and saw by the way Even was trembling that it wasn’t all there was too the story. “Even?” Even opened his eyes again now. Then he looked at Isak, who needed a while to figure it out but when he did he took both of Even’s hands. “You had an episode?”

Even nodded, and Isak tried to register that Even went through an episode without him. That he had caused one. “I just changed meds, with the travelling and everything. I baked three cakes that day. I was on my way to bring one to my mom.” Even said.

And the way that Even fit into Isak’s arms, felt so familiar. The way he had his arms firmly around Even’s shoulders but then his hands travelled up and down, one resting to Even’s lower back, the other hand’s fingers softly twirling through the hair at Even’s neck. The way Even’s arms came below Isak’s and just latched onto his shoulders…

They stayed like that for a good couple of minutes, until Isak leaned away and he was wiping Even’s tears, and Even smiled through them. “Sorry, didn’t mean tonight to be like this.” 

Isak immediately shook his head, making sure Even knew there was nothing to apologize for. “No… Even, I missed you too.” Even hadn’t said the words exactly, but Isak knew Even better than anyone. Knew when he was speaking without words. “Even, I was a wreck without you in my life. I don’t ever not want to have you in my life. We both suffered like hell without you.” Isak said, looking over at Baz, smiling at the face that he was making.

“Well I know that you probably had pizza three times a week, that’s for certain.” Even joked. Even took a deep breath, and smiled softly. He knew he had to make a joke at this point, because he had to get rid of the sad mood that was creeping up on them. All the ‘could have beens’ that they were approaching. He didn’t want them to go there. There was only the future for them now.

Luckily Isak laughed, not taking offense, perhaps part of it was true too, and then he rested his back against the couch again, facing the movie, trying to pay attention. 

He tried, moving around a little bit to find a position he was comfortable in, but he was failing and he was annoyed. That’s when Even moved away the blanket, catching Isak’s attention, and when he extended his arm to Isak, Isak’s heart fluttered.

They might as well. There was no denial between either of them anymore. Just a matter of when, instead of if. When Even raised an eyebrow, Isak softly smiled and he moved over a little bit, settling into his (ex-)boyfriend’s arms. And it felt like home more than the four walls surrounding them in that moment. 

Once the movie ended and the kids said their goodbyes, it dawned on Isak that there was a chance he would be saying goodbye to Even tonight too. Because they probably should. They probably should take things slow again. They had been doing great with getting back in touch, but they couldn’t rush this part now. Isak had fallen head over heels in such a short time when they were younger, and no matter how solid things were at the start, they crumbled.

He was determined not to let that happen this time. They wouldn’t rush. They were in love, never had not been. They just had to give it time. Find the right moment.

Even seemed to know exactly what Isak was thinking, softly reaching over to Isak’s hand, sighing. “I should probably go.”

Isak nodded. “Eh yeah… I think your clothes should be dry right now. You put them in the dryer, right?” 

Even nodded in reply too, and Isak detached himself from Even so he could get up. And suddenly the lack of warmth was too much, and while Even walked to the hallway in big strides, Isak scrambled up to his feet. Even was just in the process of untying the knot on his sweatpants when he noticed Isak, and a soft smile appeared on his lips. 

That’s when Isak moved in, and he glued himself to Even, wanting to breathe in his scent. After just a few brief seconds he looked at Even again and nodded, unwrapping his arms and stepping away. “Let me go get an umbrella for you.”

“Thank you.” Even said, and then Isak walked out of the hallway again and Even got changed into his warm clothes now. 

“I don’t know if I’ll need it actually.” Even then said a few moments later, looking out of the window. He sensed Isak was at the door again. Somehow he always knew. And Isak wasn’t even surprised anymore.

“Take it anyways. You can bring it back tomorrow.”

And that made Even smile. The boldness in Isak’s voice, the determination. They might want to take this slow now, but there was no need to torture themselves either. Tomorrow. That sounded perfect to Even. Despite the fact that he had promised his friend he would help him with a project, and he had to work from 2 to 9. “Sure.”

Isak smiled and leaned in, fitting perfectly into Even’s arms who wrapped them around Isak’s shoulders tightly. They both just stood there, neither of them really wanting to break the hug, Even not wanting to leave and Isak not wanting to let him. But eventually he did. Because Even had promised. He had promised he would be back, and then…

“Say goodbye to him for me?” Even asked, looking over Isak’s shoulder, and Isak handed over the umbrella in his hand, shaking his head. “Not a goodbye.” 

“Not a goodbye.” Even repeated. 

Then they moved to the door, and as he stood in front of it, Even caught the look in Isak’s eyes, and the way they dropped to his lips, and he had to leave. Had to leave now, or he would never be able to.

So Even placed a small kiss on Isak’s cheek, and then he stepped outside, heading to the soaked streets of Oslo where dark clouds still gloomed. When two minutes into his route the rain started to pour down again, Even looked down at the umbrella in his hand and smiled, kicking it open to hold it above his head.

The rain poured down once again like it had done earlier that evening, but this time Even didn’t care. This time he had a promise. A promise of Isak, which made his heart swell. And it was like a little shield that protected him from the cold or the wetness of the rain. He was literally protected from it this time, holding a black umbrella over his head while he walked back to where he lived.

That night, Even sat on the edge of his bed with his phone in his hand, his thumb hovering over it when he finally decided to press it, putting the phone to his ear shortly after.

**

Even smiled when he heard Isak’s laugh on the other side of the line. He wished he had Isak’s laugh before. It was Even’s biggest source of happiness. The fact that he had been left with nothing palpable of Isak’s, had hurt. But the fact that he had never had the common sense of properly recording Isak’s laugh, was one of his biggest regrets.

He had listened to videos. He had rewatched the video he made for Isak’s 18th birthday roughly 100 times the days after they had broken up. Weeks, probably. He was still proud of that project. How he had captured their young love so purely. How apparently thousands of people had stumbled upon the video. Then again, Nissen had adored them back then so it wasn’t much of a surprise.

Either way, the videos and the pictures had been there. But there was nothing that completely compared to the real thing. Hearing his laugh now, Even could imagine the way Isak’s eyes would sparkle, and he shook his head in how he was obsessing over Isak’s laugh, but then again he couldn’t help it. He loved this boy. Enough to call him up less than an hour after he had last see them.

“Missed me?” Isak then asked, and Even hummed, falling down on his mattress. 

“Terribly.” He paused, unsure for a moment, but then he persevered. “Isak, how are we going to do this?”

Isak was silent on the other side of the phone.

“Do you remember the game, Even? Do you remember the game we used to play?”

Even breathed in deeply, breathing out softly when he realized that it wasn’t a bad thing. Just because they started it during Even’s depression, didn’t mean it was bad. They had played it on their vacation in Marocco to celebrate Isak’s graduation. They had played it when they were struggling to pay rent. They had played it in good and bad times. This… this was a good time.

“Isak and Even, minute by minute.”

Isak hummed on the other side of the phone. “Isak and Even, minute by minute. Isak and Even, day by day. How does that sound?”

Even smiled, staring at his ceiling. “That sounds great.”

“Okay.”

“I do miss you though.” Even said after a little bit of silence. Not the uncomfortable one. The one where they both got settled in bed. Even could just hold his phone to his ear without Isak saying anything for hours, and he would still like it. Any connection to Isak was better than none, at this point. He craved Isak.

“I miss you too.” Isak replied. 

Even went to lean on his side. “I want you.”

“Even.” Isak said with a shaky breath. Even cleared his throat and nodded, closing his eyes. He knew. He knew that it wasn’t a thing he should be saying. But laying in his bed, hearing Isak’s voice, it just felt even more wrong not to have Isak next to him. Perhaps naked….

“What are we doing tomorrow? I need something to think about…”

Isak took a while before he replied. “I don’t know, Even. That’s the whole point, remember. Day by day. We will figure out what to do. And we will take it totally chill.”

“Totally chill.” Even repeated, agreeing with the plan. “Sounds good.”

“And we will sleep. And then there will be a new day. And we will see what we will do then.”

Even smiled at that, even though Isak couldn’t see it. “You want me to stay over? Tomorrow?”

That’s what Isak had implied, right? ‘We’ will sleep. That meant both of them. In their bed.

Isak hummed in confirmation, and Even swore he could hear the smile in Isak’s face.

“I mean, this conversation would be more comfortable if I didnt have to adjust the phone to my ear every 5 seconds, right?”

They both chuckled, and so it was settled. This could be the last night that Even fell asleep alone. The last night that Isak might be twisting and turning in the bed because after all those years, sleeping without Even was just something he didn’t get used to.

“Right. Yes, makes sense. It would be good, I mean.” He could hold Isak. Breathe in his scent. Fall asleep to the solid sound of Isak’s breathing who had fallen asleep prior himself. It would be good.

“Even?”

Even hummed, and Isak wondered if he had been falling asleep. So he smiled, and sighed.

“Nothing, never mind.”

“No, say it. What is it?” Even said, now confirming to Isak that he had been drifting off.

“About tomorrow… Meet me at the bench? At 4?”

Even didn’t even have to think about which bench he meant. A fond smile crossed on his face, and he wished he could see the shy smile Isak was undoubtedly showing right now, for bringing up something so  _ them _ .

“Okay. See you tomorrow. Goodnight Isak.”

“Night Even.”


	5. Chapter 5

Isak was nervous. Nervous about whatever was going to happen today - and something was going to happen. But his entire body was aching to be back in Even’s arms again, so he knew that it would all be fine if he showed up. 

If he showed up. 

It was currently 4.05 and Isak’s leg was bouncing up and down in impatience, which made Baz look up a few times, and Isak would just pat his head, telling him everything was okay. Except he felt like his heart was beating out of his chest, and Even was late. 

He was fucking late. And if he didn’t have a deja-vu feeling right now…

It had been their anniversary. Four years together. Four great years. They had officially made it through highschool and most of uni. The chances of them actually making it had been increasing by the minute. Their four year anniversary meant a lot.

Isak remembered feeling the box in his pocket, the way it seemed to burn a hole through it. The yes or no that was going to follow once he pulled it out was either going to make their entire life hell, or it would be the biggest sigh of relief as they could start their lives together.

Isak had been sitting there, at the table in the Kollektiv, waiting for Even to get there. He had wanted to do it there. He had wanted to link the start of their engagement to the place that really meant the start of them. Which was them in bed for a solid 48 hours. But it was still them. And so the kollektiv had made sense. Eskild hadn’t hesitated a second when Isak asked if he could have the kollektiv for a while, and so he had been sitting there, waiting, with a candlelight dinner (thanks to Noora) in front of him.

Yet Even didn’t show. The door remained locked, and the candles went down inch by inch, until Isak finally blew them out after three hours. He called up Eskild, saying it was okay for him to come home again, because ‘things had gone to shit’. 

Isak had left that evening, apparently missing Even by only a few minutes, who walked up to the stairs of the kollektiv in record speed, essentially bursting through the door to take in the scene in front of him. The untouched food, the music - Kissing You by Des’ree - playing in the background. He had messed up. His phone had been on silent on set and he had lost track of time and he had messed up, badly.

Isak remembered telling Even that nothing could make up for him missing their anniversary. He remembered ignoring all Even had to say for an apology, or which reasons he had come up with for being late. Isak had ignored him. Couldn’t allow himself to care. Because if he cared, it would only hurt more.

Maybe that’s when they started falling out of love. Maybe that is the moment that their love started to slowly fade. Because no matter how much Isak had loved Even, if they were unable to show it with things like this, then how were they going to pull it off in 30 years?

Thinking back at that time, now, sitting on the bench where they first talked, Isak thought it was stupid. He should have given things a chance. Should have let Even explain. For fuck’s sake, Isak had pulled worse disappearing acts in the times that had followed. Yet he had always blamed Even for missing that dinner, and he had always ignored trying to understand what had happened.

He wouldn’t make that mistake now.

4.15PM came around and Isak was starting to get a little cold, just sitting still like that. He wished he could smoke something, just like he did that night, to calm down his nerves. He wished he had Even’s jokes there now, to make him laugh.

He wished Even was here. 

It was Baz barking a few moments later that caused Isak to look up, and when Even walked through the gate at school, Isak sighed in relief. Then he chuckled, because for the lovesick romantic Even was, he had outdone himself this time. He showed up in his jean jacket, the one that Isak absolutely adored on him. In his hands, he held some flowers and a backpack was hanging over his shoulder.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so so sorry, I just had to run to the store. I couldn’t show up empty handed, I wanted to give you something.” Even said, before reaching the flowers over to Isak, who took them with a smile. 

“They’re nice.”

“You’re nice.”

Isak smiled at that, and he put the flowers down on the bench, before turning back to look at Even. And Isak smiled. Smiled like he was in love, deeply, madly in love.

“I wanted to give you something too.” He then whispered, and his hands reached up to softly rest in the nape of Even’s neck. Isak connected their lips and for a moment the world stood still. For a moment they both didn’t breathe, just their lips pressed together in a familiarity that hurt a little, because it had been so long.

When Isak broke the kiss, the determination was still there. Along with much uncertainty, anxiousness. Wondering if he had messed things up now. Because this was a lot. And they should take things slow. And now he was worried that he ruined things.

Even’s smile came quickly before he pulled Isak closer again and they kissed once more, Even’s hand curling to the small of Isak’s back, keeping him close. When they paused again, they both looked at each other and then Isak hid his face in Even’s neck breathing in and out deeply.

“Isak, Isak, look at me.” Even said, then moving both his hands to either side of Isak’s face, smiling widely which made Isak smile back. “You’re the most important person in my life. I’ve never loved anyone as I loved you. I never stopped loving you. I’m sorry I didn’t fight harder for us. I will fight, I promise. Because I love you, Isak. I love you so so much.”

Isak’s smile grew to a grin, and then they kissed again, until their lips were a bit swollen and they could hardly stop the smiles on their faces from making the kisses awkward. 

When they did finally break apart again, Isak rested his forehead against Even’s. “I love you too.”

**

Isak had been 17 when he stopped pretending to be someone else. And that time had been one of the most liberating times in his life. But this, this moment came pretty close. This moment changed everything. Again. And they both knew it. They knew. It was one of the many moments in the recent history where they stopped pretending like they were ex-lovers, like the thing between them was a thing of the past. If the last few weeks had shown them anything, it was that their love was still there. It was a thing of the present.

And so when Isak softly threaded his fingers into Even’s hair, and Even moved Isak closer by the hand on his back, it all fit together perfectly, like a puzzle. The way their lips connected. Again and again.

Eventually they could only be stopped by the one thing they both loved equally as much as they loved the other. Even was the first one to kneel down and pet Baz, chuckling a little because of his horrible timing once more, but this time he didn’t mind as much. Because as Even looked over at Isak, he knew that there would be an unlimited amount of kisses once again.

Isak took Even’s hand in his and went to sit on the bench, dragging Even with him. Even got Baz to sit in between them, because they were a family. And that’s where he belonged. This is how it was meant to be. Maybe they were meant to be apart for a while to realize how much they needed to be together. But this was how it was meant to be. And Baz was part of the reason why it happened, after all.

“Even?” Isak asked, frowning a little bit.

Even blinked a few times, returning back to the present, and a blinding smile returned on his face.

“Are… are we really doing this?” he asked Isak. Isak smiled, assured that Even wasn’t having second doubts, and he softly nodded. “Yes baby, we are. If you want this…” 

“Of course I want this. I want you. I want… I want you.” Even stammered.

Isak smiled softly, then resting his head on Even’s shoulder once again. Their hands were still laced together as Isak looked at them, realizing how they fit perfectly. Even pressed a kiss to the top of Isak’s head, who then took out his phone and snapped a picture. Even chuckled, and brought their hands up to press a kiss to Isak’s. 

“Are you going to post that?” Even asked. And it was a simple question, but there was more to it. Even was asking if they wanted to announce their reunion to anyone. Or if they wanted to keep this just between them. At least for now.

“I don’t know. I just wanted to capture this moment. And you don’t get to judge, cause you’ve stopped in the middle of sex to take a picture.”

Even chuckled and shook his head, pressing a kiss to Isak’s cheek. “I don’t judge. I think it’s cute. We can show it to our kids some day. Tell them that the picture was from the second time we fell in love, on our special bench.” Even explained. 

And yes, that would be the story. The two of them, sitting here, on the bench. Many things had happened here for them. He had first found the courage to talk to Isak right here. Isak had saved his life, right here. They had checked off ‘sex at school’ from their bucket list in the biology classroom the day Isak graduated. They had returned here on their two year anniversary, where Even’s camera had broken because Isak had scared him jumping from around the corner as they roamed the halls in the middle of the night. A lot of things had happened in this place.  And so part of Even was really glad that this happened here. 

Another part of him was pointing out the fact that it was inconvenient that there wasn’t a bed available for them. Perhaps they could return back to the biology classroom and…

“We should take this slow, right?” Isak then said, turning his head up so he could see Even’s face. 

Even sighed and smiled, then softly nodding. “We should.”

Isak smiled, then moving in a bit closer because it was still a bit cold, but now Even was there to warm him and that worked perfectly. “Just… I mean… We have to figure this out, you know. We have history. We’ll always have that history. But we should also like… We should take àll of our history into it, this time. Even the bad, okay?”

“Seems fair.” Even agreed, looking back at Isak again. “You… You want to talk about that? You want to figure that stuff out?” 

“Yeah but… Not right now though.” Isak said, pressing a kiss to Even’s lips. “Not right now.” He softly repeated. He then turned back to Baz, before looking up at Even again. “I thought we could go for a walk?”

The words caused Baz to jump up, and both Isak and Even laughed at that and so Even had no problem agreeing to the plan, getting up and putting Baz on the ground, before turning to Isak and putting out his hand. Isak took it with a wide grin, and they walked out of the schoolyard with their hands intertwined.

**

They walked around Oslo until they came across a little park where Baz ran around for a bit, and Even bent down to steal a small flower, putting it behind Isak’s ear with a soft smile. Isak tilted his head, his eyebrow raised a bit, and Even cupped the other side of Isak’s face with his entire hand, pulling him in for a kiss.

“You know, when you did that the first time I did get more questions about the flower than the black eye.” Isak said. Even smiled and nodded, softly adjusting the flower currently in Isak’s hair. “Good. It works, even with this haircut.” Even smiled.

Isak blushed a little, and then they continued walking. At a certain point they paused again, both their fingers interlaced as they looked at each other, and Isak knew why the minute he saw the sunset to their right. “Take a picture too. I took one, you should take one too.” 

Isak knew he wanted to. And so Even looked at Isak once more, to make sure, and Isak nodded softly, before Even pulled out his phone. Even had apparently intended for it to be just a casual selfie of the two of them, but that changed when Isak softly turned Even’s face towards him and brought their lips together once again. It seemed to take Even by surprise a little, and when they both looked down on the phone it turned out to be the best surprise, because the camera had perfectly captured their kiss and the sunset behind it.

It were moments like this that Even was thankful Isak convinced him to get his social media back. Even was in the middle of thinking of a caption, thinking of a way to describe the evening with words, but he couldn’t find any, when Isak spoke:

“Have you… have you told anyone?” 

Even looked aside and then looked ahead again, licking his lips and biting his bottom one, then turning to Isak, who wished he didn’t because it was a huge turn on. “I… I told Yousef this morning that I’ve been going to visit Baz. I haven’t said more, but I just wanted to… Like, tell him something.”

“You?”

“Jonas knows something is going on. So him and Eva, just them.” he then said, and Even looked at Isak with a small frown. “Oh yeah, Jonas said that after the proposal, he never wanted to hide anything from Eva ever again, because it was agony. And Yousef and Sana are literally married, so I suppose she knows too, right? They tell each other everything. Especially this.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true.” Even laughed, as they continued walking down the street, nearing the direction of where Isak lived. Even liked this part of town. Had invisioned living here with Isak. It was still Oslo, close to the studio he worked for and the research lab Isak worked. But it hadn’t been too busy for them to have a family, to be able to take Baz on walks to the park. 

“You know, at Sana’s wedding she told me that she almost expected us to get married before them.” Even then remembered.

Isak laughed a little nervously at that, and Even picked up on it asking “what?” with a peaked curiosity and a radiant smile.

“Well we might have come close. I sort of had a ring that night of our 4 year anniversary.” Isak admitted. This caused Even to pause in his tracks, pulling Isak back a little from where their hands were still intertwined. Eventually Baz stopped walking too.

“You were going to propose to me? That night?”

Isak looked at Even, nervously licking his lips a bit and he stretched the fingers in Even’s hand, before nodding. “Yeah.”

Even swallowed for a moment, then a soft smile appeared on his face. “You wanted to get married? To me?”

Isak rolled his eyes and shook his head, smiling. “Of course. You’re the man of my dreams, remember.”

“Am I the man of your dreams?” Even playfully mimicked, pulling Isak closer. “The man of your dreams, huh?”

“Man of my dreams.” Isak replied softly, feeling Even’s arms wrap up around himself. It was a good feeling. A warm feeling, to be in Even’s arms again. A better feeling, however, was to be in his arms on a comfortable couch, with perhaps a little less clothes.

“Let’s head home.”

“Hmm, what’s home?” Even asked with an eyebrow raise.

“A couch. And a bed.” Isak winked.

He then pulled Even with him, two more blocks until they made it to the house, and Isak barely had the time to properly turn the lock before Even was pushing both of them inside and pushing Isak’s jacket off of his shoulder.

“Off.” he mumbled right before he kissed Isak, and Isak took off his jacket right before his shoulders hit the hallway wall, and then he wrapped his arms around Even’s neck and didn’t let go. Not until they both needed to catch some breath, and Isak rested his forehead against Even’s colarbone, smiling. “Look at us, acting like horny teenagers.”

“We basically are horny teenagers. Except we now have more experience.” Even said, and by that he put his expertise to use and he started kissing down Isak’s neck in a way that made Isak’s toes curl a little bit. But he had to slow Even down, no matter how much he wanted this.

“Even, Even. Ev, hold up. Hold up.” Isak said, putting both hands on the side of Even’s face. “Chill. We have all the time in the world for this, okay? We can take our time with this. You don’t have to goanywhere, right?”

“Nowhere more important than here.” Even said, and Isak had to admit it sounded a bit cryptic, but he hardly cared. “Okay, yeah. So then we have time.” He said, readjusting his shirt a bit. He then smiled at Even while putting distance between them again. “Patience, okay. Let’s take this chill.” he said, then taking Even’s hand, walking into the living room, where Isak looked behind him a bit nervously.

Even was greeted by a kitchen table full of food and ingredients, and he looked at Isak who had a playful grin on his face. “I thought we could make dinner.”

“You mean I could make dinner.”

“No, we.” Isak corrected, pointing at the table. It took a while for Even to realize, but once he noticed it, he arched an eyebrow at Isak. “Pasta Carbonara?” 

“The only thing I know how to make.” Isak beamed.

And Even thought it was utterly adorable, and so when Isak handed him an apron he couldn’t really say no, and he took his place next to Isak at the kitchen isle.

“Okay, what am I doing?”

“You’re going to do the bacon.” Isak instructed. 

And damn, Isak would do whatever Isak told him to do at this point. He realized that nothing Isak could ask would be too much, as his hands manoevred the food but his gaze was solidly on Isak. The boy who couldn’t hold his breath under water. The boy who Even would have said yes to that night, had Isak gotten a chance to ask him the question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to do 5 chapters but I got carried away writing the reunion so good news, this will not be the final chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

Isak felt like he was floating, sitting across from Even at the kitchen table, his heart unable to contain itself from happiness. They had actually made it. They got back together. Sort of, ish. They still had to talk about stuff. But right now Even was laughing and it was the type of laugh that turned his eyes into moons, the one Isak saw when he was totally falling for Even on that window sil all those years ago. And things were good.

“Dinner was nice. Thank you.” Even then said, and Isak simply smiled. He had already gloated earlier  about how amazing it was (and about how he hadn’t burned the kitchen down). 

“I’m glad you liked it.” Isak said, before he got up and walked around the kitchen table to start cleaning up. He was stopped by Even softly holding on to his wrist, and Isak looked down at the man he loved.

“Even, I should do the dishes.” Isak said, causing Even to chuckle because yes, Isak would always see the practical side of things. He was the reasonable one out of the two of them. The logical one. He was the head, Even was the heart. Apart they were nothing, but together they had the possibility to be everything.

“They will be there in the morning.” Even smiled, pulling Isak down, and Isak got the hint when he straddled Even’s lap. He hummed in a questioning way, and Even nodded, smiling, before their lips connected again and they allowed themselves to get lost in it for a little bit.

“I love you so much.” Isak whispered, fingers laced behind Even’s neck. He was taller than Even now, causing Even to look up when he looked back into Isak’s eyes. “I love you too. So so much.”

They both smiled like the lovesick fools they were, just looking at each other and thanking whatever mysterious entity that was out there for getting them back together. And, well, that mysterious entity had a name. Baz.

“Can we go to your room?” Even asked softly, biting his lip a little in uncertainty, and Isak sighed, leaning his forehead against Even’s. He wanted to. Like, really wanted to. He had to force himself to sit still and not move too much on Even’s lap, and he was pretty sure Even was affected by it too. But Isak knew they shouldn’t.

“We should talk first.” he reasoned.

And yes okay, Even knew Isak was right. But the prospect of having Isak next to him in bed made him feel really good though. “Can we do that upstairs? Compromise?”

And for a moment Isak was tempted to sit in Even’s lap and just kiss him senseless, but he knew they had to focus on them. The electricity buzzing under their skin was there but they could still hold off. After all, this was about their future. And their past.

“Okay.” Isak nodded, and he got up to walk around the kitchen. On his way to the sink he grabbed their plates and rinsed them off quickly, causing Even to walk up behind him and wrap his arms around Isak’s chest. “Nope, no more. You’re mine now. Let’s go upstairs.” He said, and it made Isak bite his lip as he turned around in Even’s arms. “Always been yours baby, you know that.”

They kissed once again, Even slowly walking them upstairs until they got to their room, and Isak closed the door by pushing Even slowly against it, kissing down his neck.

“Isak, talk.” Even groaned, knowing they would both regret it if they didn’t. And Even had to be the reasonable one right now, only having to do that on one occasion which is when Isak was so turned on he can’t even think anymore.

Eventually Even had to use both of his hands on the sides of Isak’s face to ground him again, and he pressed a soft final kiss on Isak’s lips before Even took off his shirt. Isak was quick to follow, taking off his sweater and his jeans, before he got into the bed, effectively pulling Even on top of him.

He didn’t hesitate to connect their lips again in a kiss that was passionate and deep, but perhaps also a little sloppy, representing the internal struggle between the boys. Eventually they broke the kiss, and Isak then placed his head on his boyfriend’s chest, as if they’d never done anything else in their lives. They laid like that for a while, just breathing in the scent of one another, Even pressing kisses to the top of Isak’s head, Isak softly trailing patterns on Even’s chest.

“I got a new job.” Isak then said, breaking the silence. He changed the angle so he could look up at Even. “It pays a little less but at least I’m doing what I love.” Isak explained. 

Even tilted his head and smiled in that adorable way. “You finally quit your job? That’s awesome.” Then he noticed the look on Isak’s face, and he cleared his throat, then reaching out for Isak’s hand. “Sorry, it’s just...Isak, I knew your old job didn’t make you happy. You came home miserable. Your work didn’t stay behind the doors of that building. It wasn’t good for you.” Even said, stroking some of Isak’s hair away.

“You were obsessed with having a routine and stuff. I mean… When we were still in high school you had the most fucked up sleep schedule a 18 year old could have. Yet since 2020 or something, you’ve been obsessing about going to sleep on time. We hardly had time for sex because you said you’d be too tired in the mornings.” Even said.

He then squeezed Isak’s hand, making Isak look up. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“No. No it’s okay. I know I was a little focused on the wrong stuff since I started working. I totally realize it, don’t worry. It’s just that… It all became a lot, you know. Moving out when I was 16, our relationship. You were my home, but sometimes that wasn’t enough. In the end, it wasn’t enough to keep things afloat, you know. I love you, I always have loved you. But… the way my life was before, it just wasn’t enough.”

Even sighed and bowed his head, nodding. “I know. I know, you… you deserve better. You deserved for me to actually be there too. I know I took a lot of trips for work and my hours were starting to become way too demanding by the end. You know I eh…. I’m actually thinking of doing my own project. I mean, a friend of mine has this script and I really want to make it. I could… I could like, decide my own hours then. Be here. Be with you.”

Isak smiled proudly and reached in for another kiss, soft, slow pecks this time. “I’m so proud of you. And we will make it work. We will fight for it.” Isak wouldn’t let anything or anyone ever get them to lose each other again. He wasn’t going to live without Even ever again. The time they had spent without each other had been horrible, and he wasn’t going to willingly experience that again. He wasn’t going to let Even experience that again. Experience an episode without him.

It reminded Isak of another subject they had to discuss.

“What about your meds?” Isak asked. This caused Even to look up, and he nodded, knowing exactly why Isak asked.

“My mom… She eh… we talked. About that. I know it wasn’t fair, our last big fight. I know I shouldn’t… I mean I know I shouldn’t have said those things. And you shouldn’t have had to pretend you were fine with what had happened. I know you weren’t fine. I know you’ve supported me through everything. Through me taking the meds, through me not wanting to take them. But blaming you for having to take them wasn’t fair. It’s not true, okay. I’m not taking them just because I feel like you’ll judge me if I don’t. I’m sorry I said that.”

“Even, that was 6 months ago. It’s okay.” Isak replied, nodding. “I get it. You were lost. Felt cornered, having to make a decision with the new meds. I wanted you to make that decision. I’m sorry if I pushed you too hard. I’m sorry if I made you feel like I would judge if you made a certain decision. I won’t, I promise.”

“I know.” Even replied, looking at Isak. “I know. And I talked to my mom and she told me that she just wants me to do what feels right. And… right now I don’t feel like I want to take them.” Even admitted.

Isak breathed out, and looked at Even reassuringly. “But… like we said, we need to think about our future. And at some point I do want it to be more than just us. And I don’t want to take any risks with that future. And I know I’ll be happy with you regardless. I won’t be unhappy as long as we’re together, so…”

Isak blinked a few times, frowning a little. “So you’re taking the new meds?”

Even nodded. He sighed, and looked around. “I… I don’t know exactly what they’re going to do. New meds are always a challenge. I need to take them very serious, and go talk to my doctor again and…”

Isak noticed the stress in Even’s voice, and he softly touched his face. “It’s okay. It will be okay. Do you… do you want me to come with you? I can come with you?” Isak asked, and Even smiled faintly, nodding. “If you want to.”

“I want to do whatever I can do to help, Ev. I love you, remember.”

“As if I could forget.” Even chuckled. “I mean look at us, we’re in bed together. Talking through our difficulties. Of course I remember.”

Isak smiled softly and placed his head on Even’s chest again, listening to his soft breathing and his steady heartbeat for a little bit. He decided then that he didn’t want Even to go, ever. Didn’t want the two of them to ever leave this bed. Their bed.

“Can we just stay here forever?” Isak asked sighing, and Even laughed a little, remembering a time when Isak asked that for the first time, suggesting the appealing image of just the two of them, a bed, and infinite universes.

“I wish we could baby. I truely wish we could.” Even said, looking around the room. Because yes, he would be happy just being here, with Isak.

“I want you to move back in, Even. Can you move back in?” Isak asked. That caused Even to smile a little, but then his smile softly settled and he closed his eyes. “Isak, that is not exactly taking it slow…” 

“I know, but Even I want to wake up next to you every morning again. And Baz, Baz needs you here too. It will get super confusing if he sees us together but then you leave again and stuff.”

And truthfully, Isak wasn’t ashamed of using Baz as an excuse for his own personal gain. Baz was perfectly able to identify the situation if Even didn’t move back in right away. But at this point Isak was a little bit selfish.

“How about this. How about… I stay at Kristians till the end of the month. I payed rent, so… And then next month I will move back in. And in the meantime we can just take it slow. I will come to visit Baz a few times and…”

“Auwtch. My self-esteem down the gutter.” Isak joked, and he looked at Even with a smile on his face, and Even arched an eyebrow. “What? I mean I don’t recall anything you physically have to offer. Why would I come down here to visit you. I’ll just call, and text, and we can make it work like that.” Even joked.

Isak rolled his eyes in a way that only Isak could, his semi-annoyed, semi-amused face which then turned into a grin as he started kissing Even’s chest. “I will show you what I physically have to offer.” he said in between kisses trailing down.

And Even wasn’t going to stop Isak anymore. They did talk, and they figured stuff out, and things were good so he was starting to lose his focus on why they shouldn’t do this.

**

Three weeks passed and neither of them were entirely sure why they made the plan for Even to move back in at the end of the month, because Even had stayed over basically every other night. But today was the day he was officially moving in again, and over breakfast, Isak had slid a key back to Even across the table.

“Think you need this one back.” He said, and Even smiled brightly, taking the key and putting it back in it’s place with the rest of them, like it was never any different. “Thank you baby. I love you.” 

“Love you too. Now let’s get some boxes from your place and then pretend like we just moved in together so we can have sex on every surface again.”

Even knew Isak was only kidding, last time having caused them serious muscle aches, but he still got up from his seat, walking towards the door with his keys swinging on his finger. Isak was right behind him, pulling on his jacket in the hallway before they headed over to Even’s place, where Isak may have stayed over a few nights too, since it happened to be close to the movie theatre and one of their favorite restaurants. And once, on his way back from work, Isak had stopped by just to kiss Even senseless and leave him hanging until the next afternoon.

They gathered up the boxes that Even had already packed for the majority, his clothes and camera equipment mostly. One pan they used for wok vegetables, because Isak never made those but Even did. In the end they arrived back at the house with a full car, but it was everything they needed to start their lives together again, and so they started unpacking.

Even headed upstairs right away, while he trusted Isak with the kitchen stuff and his camera gear. Walking into their - their, it still sounded surreal in Even’s head - bedroom, he moved the boxes to the half-filled closet and he started to use the remaining hangers to hang up his stuff, filling the drawers with underwear and socks, and folding up some shirts.

That’s when Even stumbled upon something at the back of one of the drawers, and he removed his pile of gradient black to white shirts to take out what was in there, revealing it to be a little black box. 

Even swallowed upon seeing it, knowing exactly what it was and wondering why it was there. But then he knew Isak, and he knew that if he had hope for them, he wouldn’t have gotten rid of the ring he was going to use to propose to Even back then.

“Isak? Can you come and help me with something?” Even said loudly, putting the box away and waiting until he heard Isak walking up the stairs. 

“Can you move that box of yours up there, so I can fit this one.” Even asked once Isak walked into their room, and Even was busy sealing one of the boxes that had contained his clothes. “Sure.” Isak replied, walking over and reaching to slide over his stuff a bit to make room for Even. Because Even was moving back in, a thought that still made Isak giddy. He had been smiling so much all day that his cheeks were hurting a little bit. But it just simply fit. Even’s stuff was back in it’s place, and it has looked good. Like it was supposed to be. 

“Isak?” Even then asked from behind him, and when Isak pulled down his shirt again and turned around, he was stunned.

“Faen, Even…” he said in a breathy voice, and Even just smiled.

“Isak, these last couple of months without you were some of the worst months of my entire life. You were always there with me, in the back of my mind, and I couldn’t let you go. I thought of you every single day, every single night. I almost didn’t allow myself to have hope, that we would eventually be together. But then I got you back, and I knew it was right. We are right. We belong together, we fit together. I love you so much, I’ve never loved anyone else like this. It’s now 3.57 and I’m sitting in the place where you told me that getting a dog was the most absurd thing we’ve ever done. And I’m hoping you’re slowly starting to reconsider that, because without it, this wouldn’t have happened. I want to tell you a thousand things. I’m sorry for not fighting for us, I’m sorry for a lot of things. I thought I lost you, but I forgot that I could never lose you because we’re infinite. I promise you that if you say yes, you will never be alone. I promise you that we will be together for the rest of our lives, in this universe and in all the other ones. Because I love you. And I’m asking you, Isak…. Will you marry me?”

Isak had tears in his eyes, trying to blink them away but there was no point in hiding them because Even was just as emotional. Perhaps even more than Isak was, because of the way his voice broke a few times during the speech. But Isak hadn’t cared, because he knew what Even was going to ask, and he knew what his answer was going to be the minute he turned around.

“Yes.”

Even beamed, making a face asking Isak to repeat it and “Yes.” Isak replied, never having been more sure of anything in his entire life. Then he stepped forward, pulling Even towards him and pressing their lips together desperately, wrapping his arms around Even and promising to himself that he would never let go for the rest of his life.

Or maybe just for a little while, as they slowly moved away from each other again, trying to comprehend if this had just happened. If Even had just proposed to Isak. With the rings Isak was going to use to propose to Even and holy fuck, this was real.

“We’re getting married?” Isak asked, and Even nodded. He then looked down at the box, and he sighed very deeply when he saw two rings, looking up at Isak who just laughed a little. Two rings. For each of them. As if this had been planned all along.

“How did you find these?” Isak asked, and Even pointed over to the closet and Isak rolled his eyes a little, then looking back at Even. 

“I saw them, and after what you told me a couple of weeks ago… I just… I just knew. I knew I wanted this to be the new start of us. Us starting our lives together by getting engaged, me moving in… It made sense.”

“It does.” Isak nodded, and then he took Even’s hand, placing his ring on it. “It makes totally sense, fiancée.”

“Future husband.” Even smiled as he gave Isak his ring. Then they put the box down, and Even breathed in deeply, his heartrate slowly returning back to normal as he looked into Isak’s eyes, his beautiful green eyes and the way they had always felt like home to Even. He was home. He was right where he belonged.

“We’re doing this.” Isak smiled. “We’re going to be a real family. We’re actually doing this…” he said.

“Yup. I’m in.” Even said, before pulling Isak close to him and kissing his lips. “I’m totally in.”

“Same here.” Isak breathed back, settling his face in the crook of Even’s neck, just breathing in his scent.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

A few hours later and more clothes disgarded onto the floors than in the closet, Isak convinced Even to get out of the bed again, promising they would order pizza and just watch a movie for the rest of the night, staying in a little bubble before they would decide on who they were going to tell and what they were going to do. And so Even agreed, following after Isak downstairs, their fingers intertwined.

There, they were greeted by Baz and they exchanged a look before Even picked up the dog and hugged him close, Isak rubbing over the top of his head thanking the gods that they got Baz that day years ago. Without him, this wouldn’t have happened. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it. We have come to the end of the story, and it's been a joy to write this tale of heartbreak and love.   
> I have loved every minute writing this little universe, and I have been right there with you guys on the emotional rollercoaster that this story was.   
> I hope you enjoyed it too. If you want to message me you can find me on twitter @TayaTinkerbell.
> 
>  
> 
> In the end, their love was not broken, just bent, and they learned to love again.  
> Remember, alt er love. Be kind, always.


	7. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said there was going to be an epilogue to the story, so here it is.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

“I’m just glad I’m able to get married without my best friend being totally heartbroken.” Jonas said, and Isak smiled, leaning his shoulder against Even who looked devilishly handsome in his suit. Not that Isak didn’t look great, potentially even better. 

Even certainly thought so, watching Isak in front during the reception, handing the rings over to Eva while Vilde took Eva’s flowers and tried not to make Eva cry because of the make-up. Even wouldn’t have wanted to miss this. Jonas and Eva were old friends of his, and he considered them important in his own life, even though to him it was nothing compared as to Isak. 

They were his best friends, getting married, and Isak was beaming out of happiness for them. Isak had been there for Jonas through everything, including his wedding day, and Even felt happy for Isak that his friendship with Jonas was so strong.

Even if that had meant Even didn’t see Isak much all day, who was busy signing paperwork and giving Jonas last minute peptalks before they went inside. He had received a text at one point in the morning, mentioning how Jonas was even more nervous than Isak right before his driving test, and Even had laughed. 

Yet now, Jonas seemed totally calm, standing up front next to Eva, his wife. Well, almost. They hadn’t shared the kiss yet. But the paperwork was signed. Everyone was waiting for the words to be spoken. When they did, and Jonas leaned in towards Eva, all eyes were on the happy couple. All eyes but one, as Isak didn’t fail to find Even in the crowd of wedding guests, and he smiled. It was a soft promise. A ‘soon’. This will be us some day. And Even simply wanted to scream from the rooftops. 

***

“No Even, we can’t tell anyone.” Isak said, looking back and forth in the hallway before stealing kisses from his fiancée near the vestiare. 

“But surely Jonas will be happy for us? He was happy we got back together, right?” Even said, and Isak nodded, sighing deeply because he was slowly losing resolve to fight Even on the idea of announcing their engagement now.

“It’s just not right, Ev. It’s their day.” Isak replied, and Even sighed deeply, leaning his head back. “Fine. But we’re inviting them over for dinner then. Next weekend.”

“They are on honeymoon next weekend.” Isak pouted, and Even took Isak’s hands, effectively putting some distance between them and also so that Even could look Isak in the eyes a bit better. “Isak… when then? Seriously. I just want to tell the world.” Even said.

“Tell the world what?” Sana smiled while walking down the corridor. She looked at the two of them suspiciously, a look that was mainly caused by the way they both disconnected their hands quickly, and hid them in the pockets of their suits or behind their backs. Yes, perhaps Even had convinced Isak to put on the rings for a little bit.

“Just that we’re happy.” Even said, not missing a beat. He then looked down at Isak and kissed his lips. “I have to go. Can’t wait to see your best man’s speech baby.” Even winked, and then he was off.

And Isak cursed a little for it, as he stood in front of Sana by himself. Luckily he had been able to take off the ring behind his back, and he subtly dropped it in his back pocket. “Sana, hi. Having fun?”

Sana hummed on the straw of her drink, tilting her head at Isak with a smile. “You seem radiant.”

“Oh what can I say, my best friends got married. I got a great fi….” Fuck. Isak cleared his throat and smiled a bit. “Boyfriend. I got a great boyfriend. And yeah… Everyone is happy. So why wouldn’t I be happy.”

Sana then frowned a little and then shrugged, passing her drink between her two hands. “Well, I came out here to find you, and drag you back to the ceremony. Vilde says it’s T-minus 7 minutes before your speech and she’s on a schedule.”

“Speech. Yes. Of course. Got it.” Isak said systematically, and Sana smiled a little bit before she watched Isak walk off to the area where the microphone was.

“You’re either scheming, or uncovering a scheme.” Yousef said, walking up behind her, and Sana looked up at him before she squinted her eyes in the direction of her friends. “Something is going on for sure. I just haven’t uncovered it. Yet.”

**

“And he called me the day after. I kissed her, I kissed her, he said.” Isak smiled, putting a hand on Jonas’ shoulder. “And I called him an idiot.” Isak added. The crowd chuckled and Isak moved over to Eva. “Little did I know, that he made the best decision in the world back then. And then they dated for a while, but back then third wheeling these two seemed like it was forever. Then things changed and I did stuff, as most of you know about… But eventually Eva and Jonas forgave me for that because it was what they both needed.” 

He looked at Eva, who softly nodded at him, and he continued his speech. “Yes, there was a part of me that didn’t think these two should be together and end up like this. But that part of me was stupid, not out yet and certainly not madly in love himself.” Isak said, winking in Even’s direction.

“When I found out they had found their way back to each other I had just got off a plane to Marrakesh, and I wanted to turn back around to celebrate. Which is I guess what we’re doing here now. We’re celebrating. The love of these two people, and the fact that I’ve been honored to have seen it grow over the years. To my best friends. Eva, Jonas… Cheers.”

The people around them cheered and Isak made his way off the stage, looking over his shoulder to see Eva and Jonas making out in front of the entire crowd, and honestly those two would never change. At least now they didn’t hide behind a shed anymore.

“Lovely speech baby.” Even whispered in Isak’s ear, his hand resting on his back softly. Isak turned his head, almost bumping his face into Even from how close he was, and he smiled at him. “Takk. Wrote it all myself. Easiest thing I’ve ever put to paper.” Isak said, before sipping from his champagne.

“What about our wedding vows?” Even then said with a smirk on his face, and Isak rolled his eyes, putting his glass to the side and taking Even’s hand. “You, Even Bech Næsheim, are a horrible person.”

Isak walked backwards as he dragged both of them to the dancefloor and he smiled when Even started dancing goofy once they got there. “Maybe. But you love me for it.” Even said, grabbing Isak’s hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it. Isak scoffed and pulled Even closer, not caring that the music currently wasn’t meant for slow dancing.

“You’re not horrible though. And I do love you.” Isak said. He lifted his chin a little, silently asking for a kiss which Even granted him without hesitation.

“What about your diabolical plan to reveal things? Have you given up on that, finally?” Isak asked with a playful smile, and Even rolled his eyes a bit at that.

“Isak Valtersen, I will do anything you ask.” Even nodded, and Isak beamed, resting his head on Even’s shoulder. “And I love you back.” Even then whispered. 

They didn’t care about the loud music around them, the people dancing and the fact that there wasn’t actually a lot of room on the dancefloor, or the fact that the rings were burning a hole in their pockets. This was good. Right now they didn’t need anything else but to breathe in the scent of each other, surrounded by love, and lights, and laughter.

And Vilde screaming “bouquet” over the sounds of the DJ’s music.

Isak laughed a little and then pulled Even to the side, taking their seats at the table for the food that would be served next. “Don’t worry, I have ingredients for cheese toasties at home, if you prefer that…” Isak said as he saw Even pull up his nose a bit. 

“I’ll manage. But I do think I might work out an appetite towards the end of the evening. Once I’ve made you cum at least three times.” Even then said leaning towards Isak, who blushed and smiled awkwardly at the older lady who was directly making eye contact at him. Probably Eva’s grandmother or something. Surely she wouldn’t have heard what Even just said?

“For fuck’s sake Even.” Isak said rolling his eyes back when Even’s hand rested up on his thigh.

“Hi.” Sana’s voice then broke through Isak’s clouded mind, and he blinked a few times before he looked at his friend, dressed in a dark blue hijab and matching dress. Yousef took a seat next to Even, and Isak caught an exchange between both of them, before Sana cleared her throat.

“So we just want to inquire about when it’s going to happen. Because Yousef and I wanted to go to Turkey for a few weeks, this summer. So we’d have to know a bit in advance.” Sana said.

She made it sound like the most casual thing in the world, like she was talking about the weather and not informing Isak and Even that she had figured out their secret.

“Eh… I… I don’t know what you’re talking about Sana.” Isak then said, looking over at Even with a little frown. How could she know? They had been so cautious.

“Isak.” Sana then said clicking her tongue. “Your wedding. I know you’re engaged.”

“How the hell?” Even chuckled, looking over at Yousef who just shrugged and then looked over at Sana. “How did you figure it out? We haven’t told anyone yet?”

And that caused Sana to smile smugly, and once it hit Isak he slapped Even’s arm. “Idiot!”

“What?” Even asked, rubbing his arm for theatrics and Yousef was just full out laughing at him, kissing Sana’s cheek calling her a genius.

“She didn’t know shit. You just told her. She played us!” Isak said. “Sanasol Acar, just for that you’re not scoring an invite.” Isak said, shaking his index finger at her.

“Oh come on guys, it was pretty obvious once Sana told me what her suspicion was. You’ve been together longer than we have, and you have that glow about you that everyone talked about when we got engaged. And you’ve been extra giddy at the wedding…” Yousef explained.

And okay yes, maybe they could’ve hidden it a bit better.

But then again, why would they? Why would they hide their happiness, if they were in love? They had just gotten back together, spent months without each other. Months without being truthful about how much it ached not to be around the other. Why would they be any less than entirely open and honest with their love.

Right, they were at someone else’s wedding.

“Well, we’re announcing it soon.” Isak said, earning a look from Even. 

“Or tonight.”

“No Even.” Isak said sternly, and Yousef frowned, then shaking his head. “Oh no dude, that’s bad stuff. They will take revenge. They will like, announce they’re pregnant or something. I mean I told Sana she couldn’t say anything about that today either because tha…”

“Yousef!” Sana then said, and Yousef froze, realizing what he had just said. “Fuck.”

That caused Even to laugh and he got up from his seat to hug Yousef. “Congratulations man.”

“You’re pregnant?!” Isak asked Sana, hushing his voice in the middle of the word, and Sana hesitantly nodded, glaring at her husband a bit. Isak then smiled and nodded. 

“Congratulations. And don’t worry, your secret is safe with is.” Isak promised, causing for Sana to sigh in relief.

“Now, any more secrets that shouldn’t get out tonight or have we covered everything?”

“Think that’s all.” Isak said, then raising his glass. “Let’s toast to that then… To…”

“Love.” Sana cut in, raising her glass of water as she cheered with the boys, and then looked aside when the bouquet tossing finished.

“Look, I caught the bouquet… Oh, Sana, you didn’t join us?” Vilde said, proudly displaying the bouquet she had been holding more than Eva today anyways.

“That’s for people who aren’t married already Vilde.”

“Oh, right. Yes, I forgot for a moment. Oh all of us are getting married and everything. Oh, maybe Magnus and I will do the next thing. Maybe we’ll be the first to have kids!” Vilde said excitingly.

It caused for the three boys next to Sana to exchange knowing looks, which totally passed by Vilde, as she got called to her seat at the main table. 

“See you guys later tonight.” Yousef then said as he got up from the seat next to Even that wasn’t even his, and he took Sana’s hand to walk over to their own seats. Isak smiled at them at another part of the table, then catching Jonas’ eye in the process.

Isak smiled at him too and raised his glass. “Cheers.” 

Jonas nodded and then his shoulder got tapped by Eva’s mom, who Isak knew had learned to embrace Jonas like a true son-in-law. 

“You think we should tell your parents before anyone else finds out?” Isak then asked, as the main table was served their entre. 

“Eh… yeah, we could do that. Tomorrow?” Even suggested. But watching Jonas exchange his glass for another with the waiter, Isak frowned and looked aside at Even. “Don’t know about that. Might need a day to recover from one wedding before your mom starts planning the next one.” Isak smiled.

Food then arrived for their table too, and Isak got asked why he wasn’t at the main table like the best man is supposed to. When Isak replied, to a girl he believed to be Jonas’ niece, saying he’d spent enough time up close with their relationship, the girl and the people around him following the conversation chuckled again.

“So, you decided to find someone for yourself?” The girl said, flicking her hair back. Isak didn’t fail to notice how she batted her eyelashes either. And strangely, Isak felt nostalgious about that. About girls trying to hook up with him, about all of Jonas’ encouragement at that. 

“Actually, I already found him.” Isak replied, then taking Even’s hand under the table who just looked over at him and smiled. “Jup. We’re essentially married.” Even then added in, and Isak bursted out laughing looking at his fiancée. Because honestly, could he be mad at him?

He couldn’t.

All he could do was pull him closer and press his lips to his, hoping that their own wedding would be equally as amazing as this one.


	8. Epilogue (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... and we can learn to love again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now did you think I would tease you with the Jova wedding and then leave you hanging for Evak?

The entire table turned silent when Even cleared his throat and reached for Isak’s hand, addressing his parents. “Isak and I eh… Well first of all we want to say thanks to agreeing to this dinner on such short notice.” 

Even wasn’t chickening out. But he was never truly good at words so yeah, he should be given some slack for taking a little detour. Isak noticed, saw how nervous Even was but he understood, giving him a small nod. They were just his parents. They would be happy for them. They totally would be.

“Oh Even, you’re my son. My only child. Of course I’m not going to say no to having you two over for dinner. I swear I let out a little scream when you told me you were back together.”

Even chuckled and looked over at Isak fondly, remembering telling Isak that his mom would freak out.

“Yeah well, we are. Back together.” Even said, before taking a deep breath, his father dropping his napkin onto the table. Even knew he was on to them. “Better than ever, actually. We eh… We’re going to get married.” Even said.

Then his lips turned into a smile, the fact that he said it out loud just causing a giddy feeling in his stomach. He was going to marry Isak. They were going to be married. Holy shit.

“Oh herregud! That is so wonderful!” Even’s mom said, getting up from her chair and immediately walking over to hug her son closely. “I’m so happy for the two of you. This is great.” She said over Even’s shoulder, already smiling at Isak who smiled between both of Even’s parents. Who he had come to consider his parents on occasion too.

“Welcome to the family.” Even’s dad then said to him and Isak extended a hand at him, but the man just took a step and hugged Isak, who was a bit startled but grew into it quickly. Even and his mom were huggers. Mr. Bech Næsheim was a new experience.

“And Isak!” the woman then said, letting go of her own son, who was begging because he couldn’t breathe, to walk over to her future son in law. “Oh Isak, I am so happy for you guys. You are perfect for my boy.” she said as she wrapped Isak in his arms.

Isak chuckled a bit, looking over the woman’s shoulder to Even who was being shaken by his dad who Isak may have heard say ‘took you guys long enough’. Even blushed a little at the comment from his dad and then glanced over at Isak, meeting his eyes right away.

“Yeah, well….”

“Okay, this causes for some drinks. Love, can you go get the champagne please? We should celebrate.” Even’s mom instructed her husband. And they did. Drank champagne, ate dessert and they even stuck around to flip through the photo album of when Even’s parents got married. But then the boys excused themselves, stating they were going to continue the party at home and Isak blushed a crimson red but followed after Even anyways. He was truly going to marry this idiot...

***

“Hi baby!” Even said excitingly, Baz already leaping off his lap to run to the front door when Isak just walked in. He laughed, petting Baz before he continued walking through the hallway, meeting Even halfway in the doorframe to the living room, leaning in for a kiss.

“Halla.” he said with a soft sigh.

“How was your mom? And Lea? She still with that asshole who broke her heart last summer?”

Isak rolled his eyes and nodded, moving over to the kitchen to get something to drink. “Sadly, yes. But seems like she is coming around, so with a bit of luck he won’t be there on the wedding.” Isak said. Even smiled, sensing Isak’s sibling protectiveness kicking in, making him wish he had a sibling growing up too. But he had a pretty big extended family to make up for it, so the wedding venue wouldn’t be empty at all.

“And mom was good. I told her, and she said she would talk to her doctor about attending, but she said it shouldn’t be a problem. She goes on trips with the center a few times a month so…” Isak said, smiling.

“Was she excited?”

Isak nodded, in the middle of swallowing his glass of water. “Very. She said she always hoped I would get married, despite of the broken marriage I grew up in.” Isak said. His face was a bit clouded by sadness for a few moments, but then he brightened right up. “Lea insists on joining to go shopping for a suit. She also wants to be like, bridesmaid and shit. I told her there would be no brides, but she said there is loopholes. So yeah, expect her to be all up in your face.”

Even laughed and wrapped his arms around Isak. “Good thing I like your sister. Did you tell her to just text me?” Even asked, and Isak nodded. “And Eva. Gave her Vilde’s number too.” Isak said, frowning a bit.

“There’s going to be 3 girls planning our wedding.”

“Well my mom might pitch in too.” Even said tilting his head, and Isak sighed deeply, shaking his head. “Fuck me.”

“Gladly, in a little bit.” Even smirked, and Isak rolled his eyes, then giving Even one of his ‘you’re an idiot’ looks before leaning in to kiss him.

“Watching a movie?” Isak then asked, noticing the screen over Even’s shoulder, and Even nodded. “Pulp fiction. Wanna join?”

“Eh, no. I need to take a shower, I had to run to catch the tram.”

Even nodded and pulled in Isak once more for a soft kiss, then resting his forehead against his fiancées, smiling blissfully. “I love you.”

“Love you too Ev.” Isak said, pecking a kiss on his cheek before walking past him, heading upstairs to go shower. 

It took him half an hour and a bunch of worst case scenarios for wedding color schemes flashing through his head before he arrived back downstairs, brushing a towel through his hair to get it to dry quicker.

“Are you still watching… Oh.” Isak said, pausing in the living room when he took in the sight on the couch, Even cuddled up with Baz in front of the TV, sleeping while the movie was still playing. It made Isak smile fondly, leaning against the bookshelf crossing his arms, concluding that this, he wouldn’t mind coming home to for the next couple of decades.

***

Turns out, Even is like the best fiancée ever. He has become the talking point for the wicked witches of the wedding, as he was in a groupchat with Eva, Vilde and Lea. He called his mom weekly with an update on the wedding planning, giving Isak the time to focus on work and going on walks with Baz. 

He knew Even wasn’t exactly a wedding planning fan either, but he took on the role gladly, limiting any choices to be made to a maximum of three, making the choices easier on Isak. Which made Isak feel a tiny bit guilty, having told himself that Even’s new flexible work schedule just allowed him to occupy himself with the planning stuff more.

Yet last night, Even had a late shoot, so Isak saw his chance in rewarding Even, as he pulled a pan from the cabinet, setting it on the stove before pulling eggs and cream from the fridge. He then breathed in deeply, as if he was about to break a world record. But he was certainly going to do something he hadn’t done before. Isak was going to attempt to make Even’s signature scrambled eggs.

“One egg. Two egg….” Isak spoke to himself, mixing them up with a splash of milk, then pouring them into the pan in front of him. Then he waited a little, letting the eggs form into a little pancake, and then he took a spatula to start mixing up the pancake. 

That’s when things went really wrong really fast, as Isak realized the eggs weren’t runny at all, even more so, he could tell the bottom of the pancakes were a dark brown shade.

“Fuck fuck fuck.” he cursed, wondering how the hell he messed up here. He only took his eyes off the eggs for a minute to pour himself a mug of coffee.

How could he have perfectly executed the science project with Sana three days before deadline, but he could not manage to make some scrambled eggs.

“Halla.” he then heard from his left side, looking up to see his fiancée leaning against the doorway. God knows how long he had been standing there, watching Isak make a fool out of himself.

“Hi. Eh… Just sit down, I’m eh.. Almost done.” Isak stuttered, and Even smiled, walking over and leaning over Isak’s shoulder, with his face shaped into a questioning look.

“That’s eh… well…” Even said, then wrapping his arms around Isak from behind and smiling. “Let’s just say it’s a good thing we have a chef at our wedding. How about that.”

Isak groaned and moved the pan from the stove, turning around in Even’s arms and wrapping his arms around him tightly. “I suck at this. I’m like, totally not even remotely husband material.” Isak sighed.

“Baby, you have other qualities.” Even chuckled, tilting his head back to look at Isak, before softly grazing his lips. Finally Isak moved in to make it an actual kiss, their lips attached to one another for minutes on end.

“Baz, you want some eggs buddy?” Even then smiled while remaining eye contact, and Isak’s mouth fell open. 

“Seriously, you’re not even going to try them?” Isak asked in disbelief. But truthfully he didn’t even want to try them for himself.

“I’ll just go with some yoghurt. But hey, you made coffee. That gives you points for sure.” Even mocked.

Isak sighed and then smiled when Baz answered the call by walking over to his bowl, and Even filled it up with the eggs, then taking a seat at the table, where Isak put down the yoghurt in the middle of the plate, before pouring Even some coffee.

“Happy two month anniversary baby.”

*** 

The wedding day was set for September 21st. Because Even’s mom had listed it as one of the dates that they had been offered, and Even had simply exchanged a look with Isak before picking it. And Isak had simply dropped his head in Even’s lap from where they sat on the couch, Even’s mom on speaker and wondering why it sounded like Isak was dying.

“Isak thinks I’m being extra.” Even rolled his eyes.

“It is, so extra Even.” 

“I don’t get it.”

“It’s 9.21.” Even smiled, even though his mom couldn’t hear him over the phone. “Isak and I have this thing with 9.21PM. Or 21.21…” Even explained, and then his mom seemed to catch up, a little ‘oh’ sound.

“Well you’ve always been a romantic Even. And Isak, don’t worry, I checked with the bakery and they couldn’t do the strawberry thing Even wanted so you’re getting your double vanilla-chocolate thing.”

“Yes!” Isak exclaimed, and Even rolled his eyes again, then leaning down from where Isak was laying on his lap, staring at the ceiling. “Lucky shot.” Even said softly before their lips touched, and Isak grinned afterwards.

“I score when it’s important. Food is important.”

“Isak, you said we could have tacos for main course…” Even argued, and Isak lifted his eyebrows. “Still think it would be genius. Mrs. Vasquez would love it…” Isak said.

Isak always tried to please people. Like letting Magnus play the guitar because he ‘had improved a lot from the days when he held the thing upside down’. 

“Okay well, september 21st it is. Even, I see you tomorrow? You know it’s grandma’s birthday.” 

“Yes mom, will be there.” Even said, then gesturing Isak to move, who did so with a pout as Even said his goodbye and ended the call.

“What are you doing?”

“Buying my grandma a birthday present. I totally forgot.”

“For fuck’s sake Even! What are you buying her? It’s tomorrow?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I should just bring you. She loves you, she would forget about getting a present.”

Isak blushed and then got up himself, sitting on the couch, lotus style. “Wish I could, but I have to work. But hey, maybe I can stop by after it though? I’m done at 3. You won’t be able to use me as decoy but…”

“Yes, please do.” Even practically begged. “My aunt will be talking about kids and I can’t do that right now.”

Isak sighed and then walked over to Even, biting his lip a little bit before looking up at him, putting his hands on his shoulders. They had talked about this a few days ago. The conversation had been difficult, and Isak knew Even struggled with it. But they had to remind themselves that in the end it didn’t matter.

“You still okay with it? Not… not having a kid of your own?” Isak asked softly, and he moved Even’s face up a bit so he could look at him. Be sure he was okay with the decision. Because for Isak it hadn’t mattered. He hadn’t thought about kids much before. But when Even had brought it up, he had known he wanted that. Wanted a family, with Even. Isak didn’t need a biological child. He was fine with adopting. He knew he had plenty of love to give to a child that needed a family.

“Yeah.” Even said softly, straightening his back. “Yeah, it’s best.” he said. He leaned his arms on Isak’s shoulders and smiled, pressing a kiss to his lips. They would adopt. Once they were married, and finished their honeymoon and everything. Next year, they would get in touch with an agency. And Even was okay with that. He was okay with not risking the chance of passing on any of his mental illness onto a child. He wanted to give a child a home.

Isak nodded and then untangled Even’s arms from around him. “Alright then. If you hurry you might make it to the shopping centre before it closes.”

“I love you baby.” Even smiled, and then he moved swiftly to the hallway, only putting on his shoes halfway and just throwing his scarf around his neck once before walking out the door and Isak chuckled a bit, as Baz walked up next to him, then looking up at Isak.

“Don’t look at me buddy, your dad is a tornado sometimes.” Isak said.

**

The next few weeks were stressful. Even’s film was supposed to wrap ten days ago but they were still doing reshoots. What didn’t help was that Isak’s mom had gotten worse, something about the new meds and a hormonal imbalance. She had to go back to the closed section of the center until the doctors had figured out what to do, and Isak was on the phone with one of the people on his mom’s team at least once every few days.

On the one evening that they were both home, Isak convinced Even to just order pizza and not move from their bed. 

“Do you want me to give you a massage?” Even asked, softly stroking patterns on Isak’s back. Isak hummed, and Even looked down, smiling softly. “Yeah?”

Isak nodded and moved on the bed a bit so he was more horizontal. Even then moved to walk up to the bathroom, and returned with the tube of oil. “Alright. This might be cold.” He said, before adding some to his hands and starting with smooth movements in Isak’s shoulders.

Isak groaned at it, the pressure on his tense shoulders almost being too much. Even just simply leaned in and kissed in between Isak’s shoulder blades, shushing him softly. “Just relax baby.”

Isak shuffled on the bed trying to do so, trying to find a comfortable position. Which wasn’t facilitated by Even straddling his legs. Then he moved his head up on the pillow slightly and sighed contently. The tension was flowing away, and Isak felt his eyelids fall slowly.

“You don’t have to do my entire body… I think I will fall asleep just from this.” Isak said, but Even objected and then moved on to Isak’s lower back, which caused Isak to moan as soon as he placed his hands down. “Faen…”

“Baby, why don’t you take a bath more often. It really relaxes you.”

“I do…” Isak objected, and Even sighed. “With me, but that’s not the same. You should just, like, relax on your own. Just shut out the rest of the world. Turn on some music…”

“Even, I’m fine.”

Even wanted to say something about the obvious lie it was, but he took a moment and then just softly moved his hands over Isak’s back. “I know you’re fine. But you deserve more than fine. Maybe you shouldn’t come to set tomorrow. Maybe you need a day just for yourself?”

“What? No, Even… You say that you will wrap tomorrow. I want to be there. I want to celebrate with you guys.” Isak objected. 

Even then moved down again, massaging Isak’s legs thoroughly.

“We can celebrate after, when I get home?” Even proposed, but Isak lifted his upper body to turn and look at Even. Then he pulled his leg back and turned around, pulling Even on top of him.

“You, Even Bech Næsheim, are going to amaze all of Norway with your directorial debut. And I, Isak soon to be Næsheim, am going to be there to celebrate with you.”

“Okay.” Even chuckled, leaning in for a kiss which Isak returned. Isak then looked at Even, to make sure he was on board with the plan, and then kissed his forehead. “Thanks for the massage baby.”

“No problem.” Even said, as he settled down next to Isak again. Isak was quick to move after that, putting his head on Even’s chest and sighing deeply. “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

What Isak also loved was watching Even work. And he had zero regrets about coming to set instead of sitting at home by himself. Something about watching Even do what he loved, pour all of his energy into getting that one shot right… It made Isak fall in love with him a little more every time he got to sneak a peek.

“And that is a WRAP!” Even shouted dozen hours later. He smiled, clapping his hands at everyone around him, who were all cheering and clapping too. So was Isak, Even noticed as he glanced over his shoulder, before getting out of his chair to congratulate the actors and the sound department and everyone who was there in a cold warehouse somewhere outside of Oslo. The cheering continued, and Even heard some people talk about celebrating as he walked over to the back.

Isak was waiting for him there, a coffee mug in hand that Even made grabby hands at.

“Congratulations Mr. Director.” Isak grinned, and Even took a sip from the coffee before he kissed Isak. Priorities. Even smiled and thanked Isak as he looked around a bit. He surely was going to miss these people. Even if all the reshoots cost him more time than anticipated. 

Because he did wish he could have been home with Isak. Join him on one of the appointments with his mom’s doctors. But sadly, no matter how important he was as part of the film, they couldn’t pause production because he had to be with his fiancée. Which made Even feel a bit of relief, knowing they were done now. There weren’t many things he loved more than directing. Isak was one of those things.

“Heard anything from Dr. Holm?” Even asked, leaning in a bit closer to Isak for some warmth. Isak probably took pity on him because he took off his jacket and draped it over Even’s shoulders.

“He said they will do a final evaluation in two weeks. They will decide on moving her permanently or not by the end of the month.” Isak’s updated were methodical, like he had said the same thing a few times before.

Even nodded, pressing a kiss to Isak’s head before the inevitable tapping on his shoulder came, and Isak smiled as several of the crew stood behind Even.

“Even, we’re going to Syng, all of us. We were hoping you would join.” the guy with a dark beard said. Even sighed and looked at Isak, who just shrugged. “Go for it.” Isak wouldn’t mind. He had received a few links of articles to read up on from his mom’s doctors, so he would be able to fill his time staying at home.

“Oh, no. You’re joining.” one of the crew members said, and Isak frowned a bt. “This is sort of our version of throwing Even a bachelor party. You’re the fiancée right?” the guy asked. Isak blinked a few times.

“I’ll be right there Tomas.” Even said with a smile. “And Isak will join us, don’t worry.”

Isak waited until the people had walked away again, before putting his hands on Even’s hips. “You sure? Didn’t you say I needed to relax?” he smiled, and Even just leaned in to capture Isak’s lips with his, then leaning back again with a smile. “I still think you should. But tonight we’re celebrating.” Even said, then grabbing hold of Isak’s hand and dragging him along with him.

The club they ended up at was big, yet for a Saturday evening, Isak had the impression that there weren’t that many people here, because there was actually some space to move on the dancefloor. Isak then looked up as “Don’t Trust Me” by 3OH3 filled the room, and he shook his head laughing.

“What?”

Isak pointed up in the air at the lyric ‘So tell you boyfriend, if he says he got beef, that I’m a vegetarian and I ain’t fucking scared of him’ before bursting out laughing. “That lyric is like.. gold.”

Even smiled at the way Isak leaned over from laughter, and he looked at him a bit incredulous. “You okay?”

Isak nodded and straightened his back again, then spotting other people from the crew in some sort of VIP area of sorts. Even walked over to them, Isak following closely behind.

“Champagne, champagne!” the first camera assistant shouted as one of the staff members at the club carried on a few bottles of champagne. Which was far too elaborate, truly, considering the film’s budget issues early on. Isak seemed to notice Even’s concern, and exchanged a short conversation with the staff member before he turned back to Even, a hand on his leg.

“Just celebrate baby.” he said, taking a glass for the both of them.

“To… An amazing journey with you guys. To Alt Er Love!” Eirik shouted over the music, and the entire crew put up their glasses to cheer. Isak and Even did the same, laughing along with the rest of the people as some champagne spilled, before everyone put their glasses to their lips. 

Then several people headed out to the dancefloor, Isak and Even staying behind to finish their drinks, siding over to the corner part of the area, Isak leaning his back against Even’s side, taking in the people on the dancefloor. Every now and then he would strain his neck to look behind him, and Even wouldn’t miss a beat, kissing Isak’s lips right away.

Soon enough, the kisses started to linger and Isak turned his body away from the other people, his hand trailing over Even’ chest to the other side of his neck, pulling him closer to him. 

Isak realized then that there wouldn’t be a place where he felt more relaxed and more at ease than right next to Even, no matter if they were in a club or just sitting in bed all day. Isak would sign up for anything, any time he got to spend with Even. Dropping him off at set at 2AM, catching him between arriving home and taking a shower, only to find Even already asleep in the middle of a movie. Or, as they were right now, making out in the VIP-area of a club.

Isak wanted everything, anything, from Even. Right now, he just wanted more kissing. “Even, stop moving.” Isak whispered against his skin, and Even cleared his throat, looking at Isak in between deep kisses. “I’m sorry, I just can’t sit still. Isak, fucking hell.” Even said with a low voice, and Isak only needed a few moments before he got up from their seat, dragging Even along behind him. A minute later they ended up on the dancefloor, surrounded by people and Even smiled. “You’re not the dancing type. You’ve now surprised me twice, Isak Valtersen.”

“Oh I got plenty of surprises for you.” Isak smirked, and he stepped in a bit closer to Even, whispering “Wait until we get home.”

And Even couldn’t. He had to have Isak, preferably right now. They could go to the restrooms. Even knew he could be quick. 

Isak apparently felt the same way, a desire in his eyes that Even hadn’t seen often. They were both in the middle of the dancefloor, desperate for each other in a way they hadn’t been for a long time. Even then grabbed on to Isak who makes a surprised sound when Even crashes their lips together, but Isak quickly melted into it. His hands started to roam over Even’s chest, uncaring of anyone around them who might see them. Not giving a fuck about the music which is a bit off, until it’s not, the tones of “Into You” echoing through the club.

The deep bass of the music did something to the both of them, and their bodies are flush together. The music dictated their movements entirely, Isak rolling his hips every now and then, Even grinding back against him. Meanwhile their hands are all over. Isak’s had one buried in Even’s hair, the other one on Even’s neck. Both his arms up, pulling Even closer to him. And Even complied, both his hands roaming over Isak’s back, tempted to just take off his clothes right then and there. 

Even is basically pleading when he leans into Isak’s ear, warning Isak that they should go home. And Isak didn’tobject.

**

Once summer came around properly, it felt like they had never been apart at all. Even was hosting barbecue parties, Isak got envious over Jonas and Eva’s honeymoon pictures, and he kind of just wanted to drag Even to city hall himself, so that he could finally call himself Isak Næsheim. But that wasn’t how it was planned. That wasn’t how their wedding day would be.

Instead, they would spend the day at the house of Even’s maternal grandparents. Which had a beautiful view and a large backyard, large enough to host their entire family. Even had hired a chef to cook for them, despite the fact that Even’s mom offered. He had wanted her to enjoy the day, not slave away in the kitchen.

Isak’s sister Lea had taken charge of flowers and decorations, needing the distraction after the expected break-up. She had chosen simple ones, nothing too colorful or too white. Lea knew Isak pretty well, and it came in handy for moments like this. Then again so did Eva, but she still insisted on making Isak try on a white suit, eventually deciding that it wasn’t for him. Eventually they decided on some dressed trousers, a shirt and a blazer. That was as formal as he would go. And Even had agreed to that concept. He had to talk Eva into it, but eventually he too went with a casual suit, nothing too fancy, nothing too elaborate.

Vilde, who was in charge of the actual ceremony part, had arranged the wedding officiant who would allow Isak and Even to say their personalized vows. Which Isak was currently in the process of writing, T-minus 13 hours until he would marry Even.

“Seriously dude, you’re only writing them now?” Jonas asked, eyeing the clock, that switched from 23.59 to 00.00

Isak glared at Jonas, who was just walking back and forth with a beer, no real help at all.

“Well I wanted them to be personal. And with the stuff the last few months, my mom and… I just wanted them to be… like… I don’t know.”

“Relevant?” Jonas tried. Isak smiled and nodded. “Yeah. Like… all the good and the bad. I mean, Even and I had some sort of fight about sending thank you notes for the gifts and just…”

“Sorta fight? What do you mean?” Jonas asked with a frown, and Isak tilted his head. It wasn’t really a fight. Just Even saying that Isak was too nice in wanting to write handwritten notes to everyone, and Even suggested they just wrote an email to everyone. Which escalated in Isak claiming Even always wanted the easy way out, then resulting in Even proving Isak’s case by pulling him into a kiss, ending their argument in the bedroom.

Jonas nodded, indicating he was following Isak’s trail of thought. “I get it, I get it. But yeah I mean… You will have to come up with something.” Jonas said, stating the obvious a bit.

Isak groaned at it, putting the pen down and grabbing a beer himself. He wouldn’t drink more than one tonight. Wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he was hungover on his wedding day.

“Did you write your speech?” Isak then asked, and Jonas acted mock offended. “Issy, I had mine written the same evening you told me and Eva you were engaged.” Jonas said. And he wasn’t trying to really sound judgy, but he was. And he realized. So he just shrugged and sipped his beer. As if he wasn’t freaking out that day. “Which by the way, apparently Sana knew before me? Hva faen Isak?”

Yeah, some stories may have been exchanged during the ‘rehearsal dinner’ they had a few nights ago. One in which Yousef looked over at Sana every 5 seconds to see if she was comfortable, being pregnant and all that.

“Well it was at your wedding man. And we didn’t want to announce anything there. But then Sana figured it out, and then we figured out about the baby and then yeah, secret was out. And then we met up with you and Eva like, two weeks later or something, because we wanted to give you guys some spotlight.” Isak explained. He had done so at the time too. And Eva and Jonas still enjoyed the spotlight. Eva’s last three insta pics were Throwback Thursdays of their wedding from back in May, now 4 months ago.

“Appreciate it. And don’t worry. Marriage is pretty awesome.” Jonas said, abscently touching the ring on his own finger. “It’s like there’s a new layer to me and Eva. We’ve… we’ve always been solid since we got back together but it’s like…. You know, doing the whole college thing was hard, and then there was a bunch of stuff and it was never easy. But now, it’s easy. I get to wake up next to the person who I love. Who is my soulmate, you know? Like… I don’t have to say anything. She just looks at me and… man, sometimes I feel like she looks right into my soul. And she is just amazing, honestly. Sometimes…” Jonas chuckled to himself, effectively pausing a bit. “Sometimes we just lay around in bed, staring at each other. Something about only seeing each other, nobody else in the world and… yeah. It’s eh,it’s pretty great.” Jonas said.

He shook his head, retreating from his marriage bubble, looking back at Isak before finishing his beer and putting it on the counter in the designated pant-corner.

“Anyways… text me if you need me to come back down here. I’ll be upstairs. Night Isak.” Jonas said, and Isak smiled, nodding. He had already picked up the pen again, and he didn’t look up anymore when Jonas exited the room, leaving Isak alone with his thoughts. And he had many.

*** 

Even awoke in a room he hadn’t woken up in since he was 8, and right away a smile appeared on his lips, accompanied by the healthy dose of anxiety over the day to come. Not that Even didn’t trust the girls and the work they had put into. It wasn’t for practical concerns that his heart was racing. It was pure emotional. The thought of, by the end of the day, being married to Isak caused his heart to beat heavy in his chest out of anticipation.

‘Morning baby.’ Even typed as he reached for his phone, and no less than a minute later, Isak replied with ‘Good morning. Missed you last night.’ followed by a pout-emoji. Even smiled and turned from his back to his side, sighing deeply. ‘Missed you too. Can’t believe we’re getting married.’

He truly couldn’t. He had thought about it for months, dreamed about it. Imagined it in his head, with that cinematographer brain of his. But never had he expected to actually see the date on top of his screen, and hear the chatter of people around the house and know that in a few hours, Isak would be there.

Even sighed and pressed the phone button as he climbed out of bed.

“Halla.” 

“Hi.” Even replied, smiling. He could tell his oldest cousin, Marie, was a bit annoyed at his good mood this early in the morning as he passed her in the upstairs hallway. But Even had no reason not to be in a good mood. “What time are you getting here again?”

“Around 11, so in like, 3 hours. I have to go wake up Jonas, one moment.” Isak said, walking to the doorway of the guest bedroom and knocking. “JONAS! Wake up.” Then he returned to the phone, walking down the stairs and making his way to his coffee machine, pausing when he saw a freshly made cup on the counter, his sister leaning against the kitchen island with a mug of her own in hand. He mouthed ‘Thank you’ at her and she replied with ‘Even?’ to which Isak nodded.

“Okay, well you have plenty of time to get ready. My mom just looked at me in shock because I’m walking around the house in sweatpants.”

“Well at least it’s convenient you’re already there.” Isak commented, then taking a few sips from his coffee. Behind him he heard Jonas, and then he heard squeals coming from the hallway. Isak frowned and walked over, seeing Eva being lifted and twirled around by Jonas.

“What was that?” Even asked from the other side of the phone, and Isak walked back to his mug of coffee, taking another few sips. “That would be my maid of honor and my best man, aka the newlyweds, walking into the house. Lea is here too. She is looking at me like I should hang up, but I won’t.” Isak said, grinning at his sister. 

“Yeah, my mom is now making me an all you can eat breakfast buffet. Vilde is apparently on her way to check the venue. The florist van just pulled up on the driveway.”

“Does the place look good?” Isak asked, and Even nodded, looking out of the window. “Sun will pull through in a little bit, and then it will be just fine.” Even said. “As long as you’re here. So hurry up okay. I want to kiss you.”

“Not until the justice of the court says so Even.” Vilde cut in, and Even looked up, smiling. 

“The queen has arrived. I think this means I have to go. See you soon baby.”

“See you in a few hours.” Isak replied, before ending the call and putting his phone down on the counter, finishing the last of his coffee. When he looked up,he saw the three people in his living room looking at him, Jonas’ standing behind Eva and his arms wrapped around her waist, Lea looking at him with a similar expression. One of wonder.

“What?” Isak asked with a nervous laugh, and Eva untangled herself from Jonas arms to walk up to Isak. “Just… the way you light up when you talk to him. Fucking hell isak, you’re so far gone for him…” Eva smiled. Isak smiled back and shrugged, leaning against the counter. “I am. I totally am.” he admitted.

“So, which one of you is going to harass me for getting ready first. Costume or hair department?” Isak asked.

“Eh, best men department. I need to know if you have vows, or Vilde will kill me.” Jonas said.

Isak chuckled and nodded, assuring Jonas that he had been able to write down just how he felt about Even, and the fact that they’re getting married. How he felt about the prospect of sharing their entire lives together, till death do you part and everything. 

“Alright, now you’re ours. Jonas, you can manage by yourself.” Eva said, handing him his suit that she had draped over the back of the couch. Yes, Jonas was wearing a suit while Isak wasn’t. Eva was like a dog with a bone on that one. Speaking off… “Lea, can you maybe take Baz out for a bit?” Isak asked, and Lea nodded, before she pushed Isak towards the stairs, where Eva followed him to help him get ready.

“It looks good Eva.” Isak said looking in the mirror, adjusting his collar while Eva was busy pulling on the bottom of the pants, fixing the fold in them. Then she got up, admiring the work, and she nodded, leaning her hand on his shoulder and her chin on her hand following that. And they just stood there for a while. Looking in the mirror. Isak fidgeting with the ends of his sleeves, before Eva finally stilled his hands and turned him away from the mirror, smiling at him.

Isak trusted her. No matter how much had come between them, he could always rely on Eva to give him the truth, despite all the lies, all the deceit. And today, Eva’s truth was the most genuine smile. “Thank you Eva. For everything you’ve done.” He said softly, and Eva smiled back at him, ruffling through his hair now that she still could. “Any time Issy. I love you.”

“Love you too.” Isak said, before he hugged her in his arms, sighing deeply as he felt the tension in his body flow away.

“Sorry, don’t mean to interrupt.” Lea said, standing in the doorway in a long light blue dress. “Time to fix that mess on his head.” she smiled, and Isak and Eva stepped apart, Eva picking her own dress from the hanger and moving over to switch places with Lea. “I’m going to check on Jonas. Just call us when you’re ready.” she said, then closing the door leaving the Valtersen siblings alone.

“You should sit down, I’m still not tall enough.” Lea commented, and Isak smiled, taking the chair in the corner of the room and sitting in front of the mirror. “Well, you have grown a lot though…” Isak said, and he laughed a little when she revealed the heels she was wearing, causing Isak to roll his eyes. “Yeah well I meant not just physically. You’re like… I mean, I blinked. I literally blinked. And here you are… You’re my baby sister but you’re also not, you know. You’re your own person. You’re…”

“Issy, don’t do this.” she said, wiping under her eyes for a bit. Fuck, yes, make-up. “Look… This day is about you. And nothing is going to change between us. New last name or not… You will always be my big brother. You have done things I can only dream of, you have made it. You found the love of your life, twice.” Lea smiled. “And I’m just glad that I’m getting another brother today. I’m glad that mom will be there to see it. And I’m glad that you’re happy.” Lea said.

Isak smiled. Studying journalism has given Lea a way with words, Isak reminded himself, and that probed a thought as he got up and walked over to the nightstand. “You… can you read this? It’s my vows.”

Lea took the piece of paper in her hands, and handed the paper back to Isak, tilting her head. “You read it. I’ll listen. Now sit.”

Isak took a deep breath and looked down at the piece of paper. His handwriting was a bit messy compared to his usual writing, but he had experienced many emotions at once and being able to put them on paper had been a race against time.

“I have always believed that marriage is a promise. And sometimes, people stick to their promise until the very end. Other times, they can’t keep their promise any longer. I believe that the promise of marriage is to love the person you’re marrying for the rest of your life. It’s a promise that you will accept one another, no matter how hard things get. That you will never let the other person be alone. Not in happy moments, and not in sad ones. And, I don’t know if you remember, but I told you that once before. You are not alone. And I meant it.” Isak said.

He looked up into the bright blue eyes of Even, the one he could get himself lost in, and he smiled fondly. There was no more paper. He knew exactly what to say.

“And so I can make that promise easily, right now. I promise that you will always have me by your side, where you go I go. I promise there will be good days and bad days, and we will get through them together. I promise it will be us and maybe a few dozen or so people cheering us on as we go.” Isak said, briefly looking aside, trying to suppress his laughter when Magnus cheers from the crowd.

“Even…” the voice to Isak’s left said, and Eskild gave Isak a proud nod for making it through his speech without crying, something he had bet on would happen. That was before Isak found out Eskild would be the officiant at their wedding. And he may have cried a little when he saw his guru, but Eskild didn’t need to know that.

Looking over, however, Isak noticed Even was less successful in his mission, taking a shaky breath and quickly wiping under his eyes before he nodded at Eskild that he was ready, and then he faced Isak again.

“Isak. My dear Isak. From the day I saw you, I knew you were going to be someone special in my life. You were this kid that just caught my eye right away. And I knew I wanted you. I wanted to laugh with you, smoke weed with you. I wanted to talk about music with you. And then I wanted to kiss you. I wanted to show you the world. AKA the cinematography in Baz Luhrman films.” Even said, pausing for a chuckle from the audience, approving nods from Mikael and Yousef.

“We’ve fit together, you and I. You… You have loved me at my best and at my worst. You have made me laugh and made me cry. You have been there for me. You have loved me. And I have loved you. And I plan to do so for many more years. And I promised you years ago that we would get married under a little bit more extravagant circumstances, white limousine and stuff but this is… This is what I want. I want you. For the rest of my life. Forever and ever. You saved me and I saved you right back. All that stuff… that’s us. That’s who we will be, when we get married in a little bit, and when we’re old and grey in years to come. And man can not wait to grow old with you.”

“Boys, rings please.” Eskild said eyeing Jonas and Yousef, who both stepped forward, handing Isak and Even their rings. Isak’s hand took the ring between his two fingers and took Even’s hand as instructed by Eskild, sliding the ring over Even’s finger. “I love you.”

Even mimicked, fumbling a bit with the transfer from Yousef’s end before he took Isak’s hand just the same way he had done, sliding the ring over his finger too. “I love you to.”

“By the power vested in me by some guy at Oslo Kommune, I now pronounce you husbands. You may now kiss.” Eskild said, followed by a cheer which set off the rest of the audience as Even and Isak both closed the distance, one hand on the side of Isak’s face as he kissed him softly, Isak softly pulling at the fabric of Even’s jacked a little bit to draw him closer. Then they broke the kiss, looking at each other before Isak grabbed the back of Even’s neck and pulled him in for another kiss, filled with laughter and joy.

“Nice to meet you, Isak Næsheim.” Even smiled. Isak leans his forehead against Even, sighing contently. “Finally.”

Isak finally averted his eyes from his husband when Jonas appeared next to him, and Isak soon caught his smile. Then Isak let his gaze move over to Eva and his sister, who were both crying a bit, holding each other’s hand. Even noticed, then glancing over his own own shoulder to notice Yousef suspiciously rub his eye, quickly mouthing ‘allergies’ but who were they kidding. In the crowd Even soon caught his mom and dad too, clapping happily like most of the people that had gathered today. Isak’s mom sitting on the front row, next to Vilde and Magnus. Sana sitting next to Elias on the front row on the other side. Mutta and Adam were openly teasing Mikael who told them that crying at these type of events was natural. Even captured the loving smile of Mama Bakkoush, and his filming assistant on the second row. On the third row, he spotted Sonja talking to his grandma, and Even smiled. fondly.  

“I have to say baby gay, this is probably your biggest accomplishment… I don’t think I have any more to teach you.” Eskild smiled. Isak looked over at Even with a grin, then shrugging. “I don’t know Eskild. I might need some lessons on how to change diapers by this time next year.” Isak smirked. To this Eskild gasped, and he immediately looked around. Isak telling him to not go tell anyone went immediately over his head as he made his way over to Noora and Linn, seated on the second row right behind Isak’s mom. Near them sat Mahdi and his girlfriend Elise. 

“We have some people to say hi to.” Even said, pulling Isak to his side, and Isak looked at Even, tilting his head. “Do we now, husband?” he asked. Even looked at him in surprise, and a smile grew on his face. “Say that again.” 

“Husband.” Isak repeated, their foreheads now touching. And Even couldn’t help himself before leaning in to kiss Isak, which caused for the people around them to grow quiet and then they cheered.

“Okay eh, Eva said you guys need to take some pictures so don’t go off to bang or something, there apparently is a tight schedule.”

Isak and Even both turned to Jonas, and Yousef chuckled, pulling his arm over Jonas’ shoulders, walking him away from the married couple. “Oh Jonas… You should learn by now.” He said, then looking behind him, smirking. Isak and Even were nowhere to be seen. 

***

Even cleared his throat and held the microphone at a few inches away from his lips. “Hi. Hello, everyone.” he said a bit awkwardly as everyone was still chatting, until the room turned silent. A room filled with their closest friends and family, the people they loved.

“I eh, want to say a little something. I’m speaking for me and Isak both.” Even said before straightening his shoulders. “We would like to thank all of you for being here, first of all. All of this would not have been possible without all of you. But specifically... Mom, thank you for arranging this amazing location. Dad, thank you for financing our honeymoon. Lea, thank you for the decorations. Eskild, thank you for officiating the ceremony. Marianne, thank you for convincing Isak not to cut his hair three weeks ago.” Even chuckled, and the entire room went along with it.

“Jonas, thank you for updating me with texts last night. No matter how short notice, the vows were beautiful baby.” Even said looking at Isak, who just smiled fondly. “Yousef, thank you for not making me late at my own wedding. Mikael, thank you for the pictures and for the whole thing to be filmed. Eva, thank you for making my husband look gorgeous. And thanks Sana for pointing out I had buttoned my shirt wrong. Thank you Chris for babysitting Baz during our honeymoon.” 

“Thank you Vilde, for making sure our mess of a family all had tissues to cry. Thank you Magnus for being the biggest shipper. Thank you Mahdi for the texts when Isak and I weren’t together. Thank you Noora for a shoulder to cry on. Thank you Mama Bakkoush for making me home cooked meals when I wasn’t keen on leaving my own bed. Thank you Adam for dragging me out to the cinema. Thank you Mutta for that conversation that caused me to send that text. Thank you Linn for telling me that it’s okay not to be okay sometimes. Thank you Elias, for reminding me that my rent agreement said no pets.

“And thank you Isak, for agreeing all those years ago to get a dog with me. To become a little bit of a family, back then. Because if it wasn’t for Baz we might not have been sitting here right now. We have been a family for a while. And today was a way to celebrate that. I’m proud to say I loved you through awful buzzcuts and I’m thankful you loved me back when I was obsessed with Grease for a while. Sorry baby.” Even smiled, and Isak chuckled, nodding.

“Anyways… thank you to all of you here. We hope you have the best time tonight. To my amazing husband. May I call him that for a long time to come.”

Isak got up from his chair and took Even’s hand. “To the love of my life, who I can’t wait to grow old with.”

“To Evak!” Magnus cheered, and then everyone else in the room cheered, and they awed at the kiss that Isak and Even shared afterwards.

A kiss that was more than a promise of a life together. It was a statement of their love together. Of how they had overcome a lot of difficult things. How they were apart, and then they came back together.

How they were never just broken, just simply bent. And they learned to love again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always planned to include their happily ever after in the epilogue. But I ended up writing so much, I had to make a choice.   
> In the end I chose to cut it into two parts, the second epilogue focussing on their life as they were engaged.
> 
> I'm considering writing a second fic for this universe, to continue the lives of Even and Isak and Baz. Let me know in the comments if you'd want that fic? 
> 
> Thanks for all the love on this fic.   
> Be kind, Always.  
> ♥


End file.
